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Head and Neck Cancer

My new tshirts!
I visited the site www.choosehope.com and found some really nice merchandise and they donate proceeds toward cancer research. Here is the necklace, keychain, and shirt I got myself (with the head and neck ribbon color).... Then a fellow warrior got me this as a sweet gift when I finished treatment...she has 6 rads to go...
More Chemo
About six weeks ago, I was told that there would be no more chemo for my metastasis to the lung and ribs. This threw me into a deep depression with extreme insomnia. However, at the next monthly visit, my medical oncologist offerred a series of Methotrixate infusions. Received one. The following week, I was running a…
Caring for the caregiver
Good morning! Finally feeling a little human again. Sweet husband cancer survivor Jim had the misfortune/opportunity to take care of me for the past couple of weeks. As one who has degenerative spine and disk disease, from the time to time I have to have a spinal fusion. I managed to put this last one off until we got the…
Anniversary of Sorts
2 years ago today I had my first all day chemo treatment , cisplatin, taxotore, and my favorite the 5FU pump, I would have 2 more of these all day treatments each 21 days from August to Oct before starting 7 1/2 weeks of rads with 1 infusion of carboplatin for ever week of rads. As I sit and remember the last 2 years , I…
Restless Leg Syndrome
I have to admit, I used to think this wasn't a "real" thing. I had heard of it and my mom swears she has it, so I blew it off because she is one of those people who has EVERYTHING. Well, I have been proven way wrong. After surgery,they kept those leg compression things on me for the whole 12 days I was in the hospital.…
Update on mets
First, thank you to everyone for their well wishes and support. I had the PET scan yesterday and my sister, brother, husband and I met with the doctor. The good news is no uptakes in lungs, liver or bones so reoccurance is isolated. Tumor board is meeting tonight but some type of radiation will likely be the tx. even if…
Said goodbye to PEGgy :)
I said goodbye to Peggy this morning! It feels so strange to not have that thing hanging around. I wasso grateful to have had the PEG, I don't think I would have survived without one. I feel such a relief for it to be gone, though. The nurse said it looked great, clean and well maintained but that I definitely didn't…
Planned neck dissection to take one node out
Hey everyone! As many of you know, my Dad finished his tx Sept 2012 for BOT cancer with multiple lymph nodes involved. He had chemo/rads. Then he had CT scans and ultrasounds and physycal check-ups where they saw one lymph node still slightly enlarged (firstly 2cm and now in August even smaller: 1,8cm). It's actually no…
Side effect to be aware of
I wanted to share with all of my friends here, especially those struggling during recovery or with recurrance. Long story short, LBC (life before cancer), I was strong physically and mentally, scrappy, great work ethic, involved in all aspects of life. Then I was married June 2012, diagnosed with stage IV SCC RT tonsil,…
Scanxiety time again
Just had another scan of my lungs/chest Friday and of course on pins and needles until I see my doc and do another infusion of Taxotere on Tuesday. My last scan 6 weeks ago did show the tumors are shrinking so I do expect good news. This beast is so unpredictable as on my last trial I went 18-20 weeks with no visible…
scared for my mother in law
My mother in law has had Papillary thyroid cancer which was first removed in 2000 along with her whole thyroid. Well she had a recurrence in 2010 and the mass was removed from lymph node and she had her radioactive iodine treatment again. Well at that time there was a very tiny mass that was seen but left behind. It stayed…
I'm concerned
A couple weeks back, I went for my ,1 year 8 month, check-up and scope. All was good. NED Since then, about a week ago, I started sneezing and coughing and just in general, feeling like a head cold. Just thought I'd ride it out, taking honey and cinnamon mixed. To get to the point, 2 days ago, I awoke to the raspy, in and…
Hit the Road Jack!.........
Hi Folks, Finally got in a little while ago. The preliminary "OFFICIAL" good news is I'm..... The final reads won't be available until tomorrow but the PET department told my RO they saw nothing that raised any red flags and that it looked good to them. My scope looked great overall. Swallow study went well and I'm where…
Acinic Cell Ca. Parotid Gland and Mestastases to Neck Lymph Nodes., Stage 4
I have Parotid gland and metastases to neck lymph nodes. Three surgeries, all failed to excise. Metastasized to neck lymph nodes. Is there any chemotherapy or any threatment for this acinic cell ca? I was told just surgery. I had radiation also. Neck tissue is very scarred and thick and damaged. Fearful of fourth surgery…
Just got the word....
I got the call shortly before leaving work today. My 1st post treatment PET scan will be next week, Tuesday August 6th, 15 weeks post Tx. It's going to be a LONG day as I have to be in Baltimore by 8am (leave VA a little before 6am) as my appointment is at 8:30am. The test takes 2.5 hours. Then it's off to Speech/Language…
Michigan Oncologist accused of fraud and putting patients at risk
My heart goes out to the people here in Michigan that were involved with this doctor. He did his hematology oncology fellowship at the world-renown Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He was voted one of the “Top Docs” in hematology or oncology in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 by Hour Detroit Magazine. Fata…
NED: ketogenic diet, chemo, rad
PET Scan results are in: No Evidence of Disease, not a speck! Last treatment was June 11, 2013. We followed the ketogenic diet (Canton), had tonsilectomy, chemo, radiation and LOTS and LOTS of prayers and pray-ers. Not to take away from all of the helpful information gleaned from this forum (the good, bad and the ugly).…
A Down Day After Treatments - My Story for the many newbies on here
NOTE: This story is shared not to depress but to ensure others who may have to take this path that even though you have days such as this, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For me personally I could not have made it without my Lord's comfort and hope that there is a reason for all I was going through, and in the end…
Rachel ?
Just wondering and hoping that Rachel is ok . I haven't seen her on here in a good while . Has anyone heard from her or talked to her ?
phlegm
It's been almost a month post rads & chemo and the phlegm is still here and now it is much thicker and very hard to get rid of. Seems to be more so in my nasal area now and seems to be getting darker yellow in color. Has anyone experienced this? Is it normal? Should I be getting a hold of my doctor? Thanks Tony
matastic
Jim has recently statrted experiencing pain and wakness in left hip when standing after sitting. Does anyone know if this could be a sign that the cancer has spread to the bone? The pain in his left lung has intensified as well. His energy is gewtting less as well. On the plus side, his weight has finally reached normal.…
Fanconi's anemia
For those of you that weren't around when Dawn (sweetblood) was a major factor on this board. A fantastic lady and true soldier. Dawn had something called fanconi's anemia, I had never heard of it pre C. Well Dawn had fanconi's and developed head and neck cancer, people with Fanconi's nearly always develop cancer, I…
Question about radiation therapy after surgey timeframe
Hi I have a question regarding the treatment window for radiation therapy and chemo after surgery. My husbad has Squamous cell carcinoma of his right tonsil that spread to his lymph nodes on the same side, removal of both tonsils and radical neck disection on June 12th. They removed about 30 lymph nodes from his neck only…
Oxygen device for prone sleepers?
Hubby is in the dry mouth stage post-treatment and is unable to sleep. He resists all my suggestions that he needs to sleep in a recliner or with numerous pillows, claiming he just can't sleep upright. Urggggh. Of course, he is dozing in his chair right now, but that is not the deep sleep he needs. When he goes to bed,…
Statistics
There have been some fantastic NED reports as well as some very sobering recurrances on the boards lately. There are thousands of members that read/lurk and only a very small percentage that post. Even at that, we see the positives and the negatives of our disease manifest itself in so many ways. From the patient's…
concern about mouthwash
I am one of the caregivers who posts occasionally on this forum. I have not had any radiation damage to my mouth and teeth like many of you. However, I wanted to make you aware of something that I discovered about a certain mouthwash that might be even more of a problem for oral cancer patients. I called my son (who had…
1 year later
As of tomorrow I will have been out of treatment for 1 year so according to my Dr. as he calculates it I am a 1 year survivor!!! I thank God every day for that and for letting me find all of you last year when I was beginning this journey. I learned so much and got so much inspiration from all of you and I can never thank…
Roll Call
I was just browsing and came across something they called roll call,i was just wondering where you might sign up for that,plus where is it posted.Thanks for any info
Thank you !
I wanted to update my previous post. First of all.....the abinormal....pstd, or whatever we each call it sometimes rears it's ugly head where we need to step back and re-evaluate where we are at in life. I recently reached out for some extra help through my county....not hospice....but kind of a transitioning between. Here…
Radiation Retinopathy
Hi, I’m 2 yr post-treatment for Esthesioneuroblastoma and now suffering radiation retinopathy (slight blindness in eye caused by fluid/blood in retina area due to radiation). Retina specialists are recommending steroid shots (yes…in the eye), and wondering how any of you have dealt with this. Thanks.

Head and Neck Cancer

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