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Newly diagnosed
Just diagnosed Hi everyone! I was diagnosed 8/10/15 and as of today my treatment plan has been fianalized and set in motion. I have stage 4A cancer of the right tonsil with spread to 1 neck node on the right side, but PET scan shows no where else. So....T2N2aM0 I'm set to start 35 weekly treatments of radiation 5 days a…
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New to this site...currently treating Stage IV NPC
Hello all. I am happy to have found this site...wish I found it two months ago, but better late than never. My husband (age 55) has been diagnosed with Stage IVb nasopharyngeall cancer. There are positive lymph nodes but they are above the clavicle and were in the field of radiation. No mets. HPV positive. We have…
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Pain management - any experience with methadone?
Hi all, We are still in the hospital trying to manage pain, hydration and nutrition. Most of the nausea has decreased and my husband is tolerating a clear Boost (Breeze). The main problem is the acute mucositis brought on by the adjuvant chemo regimen of Cisplatun and 5FU. It has also triggered something called "radiation…
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Caring bridge
I wanted to make folks here aware of a site called Caring Bridge that can be accessed at www.caringbridge.org It allows you to set up a page where you can update friends and family through journal entries. It also has a calendar so people can sign up to bring you meals or come and help if that is something you want to…
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Greetings...
Greetings... Just a flashback from 2014 to present, LOL... As a few of you may, or may not remember that I had the Whipple back in April of 2014... For a pre-cancerous cyst that had a great likelihood of turning into cancer if not whipped soon. So after having the whipple, not fully recovering, having an abscess that…
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Hospice
The time has come my friends, I have been going downhill for the last month and I have decided no more treatments. They sound like they would be making me sick. We need to find out what type of help thay they can give us. I don't want to be home alone, I have had some falls lately. I will stay on as long as I can and my…
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first ned after treatment
Hi all my name is jeff and i had stage 4 bot and lympth node cancer.I went though 39 rad and 6 cemo treatments completed june 20.Just got my results back from the pet scan and blood work,everything is clear.What a battle as i was not able to get a feeding tube put in because my colon was in the way.i realy did not need the…
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I'm not sure if the results so far were worth the effort?
treated for squamaus cell carcinoma of right tonsilNew Finished my last radiation treatment on Sept 21st. Been reading older posts about loss of taste, loss of saliva, and terrible sore throat to gain information on how long these side effects will last. I wanted to start a new post to see newer repsonses from new people.…
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Lhermitte's sign or syndrome.
Radiation treatment is truly the gift that keeps on giving. But it did give me my life back. I'm grateful. It's choose your poison though, death or radiation side affects. Over the last few weeks, at least once or twice a day, an electrical charge runs down my back and legs. Almost buckles my knees. From what I can tell,…
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No appetite and feeling cold 3 years post treatment
I'm three years post treatment from squamo cell cancer of the nasopharynx. My thyroid is being treated. I have never regained an appetite and of course I have very little saliva. As a result, I mostly get my nutrition from liquids. Also, I'm always cold. Freezing! Has anyone else experienced a loss of appetite and feeling…
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G-Tube and Port OUCH--lasted three days only i feel stupid now
Hi I was reading old posts. I saw yours Phrannie about the tube. Last night my stomach was just spasming intermittantly but today its better. Kills my abdominals though when I move. Dang, I had stopped taking narcotics on the 21st from my surgery. i started back!! WOW. But its so helpful to read the old posts Thank You.…
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Back for more than checking in and saying hello--UPDATED 10/28
I haven't posted in a while because life has been hectic and stressful. I've been checking in without posting though, and thinking of everyone here (especially Phrannie, who rode the bus alongside me). I've been dealing with pneumonia for a couple weeks... and a chest CT today showed it's not just pneumonia. There's a…
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Head and neck radiation side effects
Hi my name is Justin and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with stage 1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma in August 2015. I completed 35 treatments of radiation therapy and 3 cisplatum chemotherapy treatments. My last day of these treatments was October 22nd. I am looking for relief and information and I hope that somebody can…
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Tyranny of Positivity
So husband and I decided to take advantage of some counseling sessions to help with anxiety, negative loop thinking, etc. We are actually doing pretty well, but figured it couldn't hurt, and why not? So yesterday the psychologist said something I found pretty interesting...she said sometimes you have to deal with the…
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Jakesaround and Kenny- are you guys making it?
HI, just wondering about you guys (way) ahead of me. I am finishing week one tomorrow. I hope you both are doing ok. Karen
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Class of 2012 isn't doing too good....UPDATE!!!!!
ENT called tonight....the lymph node biopsy showed cancer. SH*T is all I can say! He says wherever it is, it is very small since the CT never picked it up in August....since the lymph has grown hardly at all since then, either. His office will be calling me tomorrow to set up a PET scan. Here we go again. I'm still in…
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bye, bye insurance....
Here we go again... My husband is self employed. My job (I have TWO) keeps us just under the hours eligible for benefits. We had NO insurance when I found out I had cancer. Now, two years later (lots of bills, assistance and blessings) we have a policy through the "Affordable" healthcare act. Affordable, not so much... It…
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Post Treatment Recovery
I finished my treatments one week ago. I'm feeling pretty awful. My lower throat just keeps getting more painful and it makes eating or drinking anything almost unbearable. I don't have a feeding tube, so I'm very afraid that I'm not gettting enough nutrition. Has anyone else had a problem with throat pain? I would like to…
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Radiate or not?
We just talked to my husband's doctor about his pathology report. The tumor in the tongue was 1.2 cm at its greatest size and was removed with clean margins. All of the lymph nodes removed from the right side of the neck were not cancerous, which the doc said was huge. The only negative was that the tumor showed some peri…
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I am Home!!
Got released this morning....the human body is amazing....like total turn around in the night. Nerves quit screaming, able to turn my head, and get my arm over and close to my head without feeling like "I wish the PT people could get a chance at this, they might not be so mean"....LOL. It's amazing to me how everything…
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Starting Week five. What about the feeding tube?
Hi everybody, I've been reading some of the recent posts and I'm getting very worried. I will be starting week five of six in a couple of days. My throat is getting very sore, but after a couple of pain pills, baking soda rinse and magic mouthwash, I can start swallowing after I get up in the morning. Even so, eating is a…
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Saw the Oncologist this morning....
damn....this is such a roller coaster ride....I thought I was pretty much done with the carnival ride, and moving into treatment mode. The Oncologist has not seen anything in research that would indicate to him a justification to poison me with chemo with this recurrence. He does want to get a second opinion....first over…
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Obamacare Who can afford it
Wow I can't believe it but my health care coverage will go from $400.00 a month to $1,200.00 a month with a $7,500 out of pocket deductible next year. I don’t get it but something is wrong with this picture. My Disability and SS with my Wife’s SS puts us over the limit to receive any discount in coverage so we have to pay…
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Not4me
i am a 44 years of age, 6' 2" tall, weigh 205 pounds and had a sore throat, once when I was a kid. I have NEVER been sick so you can only imagine how terrified I was when I heard CANCER. I had what I thought was an ear infection and after 10 days of antibiotic to treat it without any success my wife "made" me go to the…
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Newly unemployed
Now the insurance problem lands on my doorstep. COBRA, or continued under my current plan, I will learn about in the next few days, but I've heard that's very expensive. So, do I explore Obamacare plans? Isn't there enrollment dates that are only for once/year? Worked at the place for 21years, 10 months, and 9 days. There…
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phrannie update....
Let's see....the neck dissection is now just little line on my neck....plus a lot of wrinkles...When I knew I was going to have this surgery, I was nervous I'd look like I'd had half a neck lift....I don't know how they managed to pull it so tight and yet leave wrinkles?? I feel like a baby bulldog...like I have to clean…
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Things are getting harder
as we knew they would, but still it doesn't make it any easier. My husband is half way through his 6 chemo treatments (cisplatin) and almost half way through his 30 radiation treatments for his tongue cancer. Starting on Christmas Eve is when the eating became hard. Up until that point he was doing fine, and then poof,…
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End of life
When I was on here a few months ago looking for help with radiation and chemo, I remember a few of you were family members of those who have passed. While this is a scary topic for some, I need help. My mom is terminal. She was told she had a year to live just 3 weeks ago and now she is told she has less than 3 weeks (with…
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Another famous person
Uh, there's some famous people who have had H&N C. Just read about another. Uh. kcass
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complications need advise
My husband was diagnosed with base of tongue cancer. We live in NE Pennsylvania about 2 hours from Philly. The pathology report stated that it was "large cell undifferentiated carcinoma markers, with neurendocrine features. Positive for epithelial markers,MOC-31, chromogranin, synaptphysin". Our oncologist suspects that…