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Tooth Decay
I know this has been discussed before but I can't find exactly what I am looking for and wonder if you guys can help. I have had two teeth pulled as a result of decay caused by the radiation therapy. Now, in an effort to save my other teeth I need to have two root canals and two crowns which are very expensive. My question…
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Decorations Down!
Good Morning: Just thought I'd let y'all know that I have finally packed away the Christmas decorations and the tree is down and put away! I'll put some St. Patty's stuff out and then the Easter and then it's pretty tame until fall. My gosh, I didn't think about this when I listed my hobbies on Skiffin's post about that…
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NED
Just wanted to share with you all. 9 months post treatment and ENT doc gave me the thumbs up (metaphorically speaking). Still have PET in 3 weeks but he was confident it would also be clear. If I could light a cigar I would!
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Our God is Awesome.....
Awesome, faithful, and never failing! Thank you all (AGAIN!) for your prayers, love support, and blessings! I have been declared NED once again! I am so grateful for this site, and my fellow fighters. Just know, that you can win the battle too. There have been times I would not have, or could not have believed I would be…
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surgery completed-not so good results
Hi, so my mom is fighting recurrance for the third time within not even 2 years, had her surgury today, right neck dissection and part of left side of her tongue removed. Unfortunately doctor had to remove the jagular vain which will leave her arm limited for the rest of her life. Any suggestions on that? does the…
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Videostrobe
had my six month videostrobe today at Penn State Hershey, God I hate that thing and all the gagging, but it was successful, ENT guy said "the throat looks great" It is fascinating to watch the vocal cords dance to the variety of sounds you make. next September I have a pet scan and another strobe, until then, plan for the…
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here we go again....
I watched him shave his head knowing it was for some control at a time when he has none. He was stoic,and strong on the outside,but I cannot imagine what he is feeling on the inside. I am so proud of the man I married,and I pray I have more time to prove it to him as we are only 32. I feel so powerless. I have always been…
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Neck Dissection with Nerve Pain
A little update on my recent treatment. I started phase III yesterday getting RT. They first told me it was going to be 25 treatments but changed it to 30. The reason was that it is low dose RT and they are stretching it out to minimize my side effects. Coming home today from my 2nd treatment I could feel the burn on my…
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Accidental Overdose
Well my last post was a heavy one. This one will be again. My last chemo is tomorrow and I don't want it (kicks and pounds fist on ground like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum) All joking aside. I don't know if I can do it. I am just starting to feel better, then they hit you again. If is like some f*##ing cruel joke. It…
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Scan results...clinical trial
An update on my husband, Andy, who is in a clinical trial treatment for metastasis...Andy has had four out of eight cycles of his Reovirus clinical trial and had his second ct scan a week ago. His first scan showed a very positive response with approximately 40% shrinkage of his lesions. The second scan surprised his…
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Any advice for my mom about to have surgery for tongue cancer?
Hi Everyone, My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 SCC of the left tonsil and lymphnode. She received about 2.5months of radiation and chemo., followed by another 2 months of chemo after radiation, treatment ending in 10/2011. She was declared cancer free 12/2011. Two months later her PET scan revealed the cancer spread to the…
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Dawn - Not cancer related, dogs instead
Well my wife decided to come down to our place in Mexico and this time she brought her two Yorkies (Miguel and Annabella - Miguel is in my avatar). Well Annabella decided to give birth to her first litter of puppies, three boys. Now we have to get them back to the US but the problem is you can only carry two small dogs…
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Long term peg
I am wondering at what point does a peg tube need to be replaced? Andy has had his 10 months and I just recently started wondering if there is an "expiration date" so to speak. Don't want any weird germs to invade!
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radiation burns to neck
Can anyone advise the best way to care for the radiation burned skin on the neck? Using Biafine. Also, Dr advised DOMboro soaks and Vitamin E. Is it best to remove dead skin? The pain is about "8" about 7 days out from the last treatment. Is it best to let it scab?
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FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW AND ABOUT TO START RADIATION. Some threads to read that can be helpful.
Seems like we never have any shortage of new people joining. For those just starting radiation and are nervous, there is lots of good info on these threads. TIPS FOR HANDLING THE MASK: ----------------------------------------------- SURVIVING THE MASK RADIATION MASK ADVICE FIRST DAY OF RADIATION TIPS You can find more…
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What items make you feel better?
Hi, I'm a cancer survivor who is working to help other patients/survivors. Thinking about your treatments and side effects, physically, mentally, etc. What type of items could someone give you to help make you more comfortable. Example: I had dry mouth and nausea - fruit flavored hard candy helped. Reading helped me pass…
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Is it Just Me or..(off topic)
Are the rest of you experiencing difficulty with pages loading on this website from time to time? Several times I've gotten so frustrated I just left the site. Couldn't even log off. My assumption is that this site gets too much traffic for the server to handle. That says a lot about how many people depend on this site for…
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ROLL CALL 2011 CLOSED. REPORT BACK IN 2012 LISTING
AM UPDATING ROLL CALL. If you had not checked in for year 2011, please post. Thank you. Please note that there are two rosters. The first lists those who have reported back in year 2011. The second are those who have not checked in. Some may already have posted in this thread and will update the roster in January. CHECKED…
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Foamy mouth and heartburn from chemo
Any one get a foamy mouth or heartburn from chemo? I'm on my third, 3-week cycle of cisplatin, taxotere and then a week with a fanny pack of 5FU. When I get the pack removed (yesterday), I get terrible chest pain and took a Prilosec, which helped. Doc wasn't concerned. Almost worse is the foamy mouth I get with chemo. I…
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One down
Thirty two to go. Well that went pretty smooth for the first session, they say the first one is a little longer because of putting all the markings and crosshairs on the mask. I did feel a little bit of Anxiety creeping in because I'm not very good at lying on my back because of post nasal Drip and I seem to block of my…
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damage to ears from radiation
I am 9 yrs post radiation for adenocarcinoma of a minor salivary gland. In July of last year i was found to have holes in my external ear canals with visible bone showing. My ENT did cleaning and gentian violet and monthly checks until november without improvement. In November I started Hyperbaric therapy and completed 40…
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Follow-up on Cyberknife
I wanted to do a quick post about my experience--so far--with Cyberknife since it appears that not a lot of people have had experience with it and there's a surprising lack of information online about HNC and Cyberknife. To step back, I have HPV+ tongue cancer. I've had three tongue surgeries since May to remove very small…
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Suggestions for inability to tolerate "metallic" taste?
My husband just finished his third week of radiation for cancer at the base of his tongue. He has a very very low pain threshold and has been in pain for two years. MRI in Dec. finally detected the cancer and so he's on the tough part of treatment now. I'm trying anything I can think of to get him to eat. He's getting…
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Home for A While
Hi all: Got back Monday afternoon from NC. All was well there. In-laws doing pretty good. Father-in-law had 88th birthday while I was there. The boys did let me back in the house and were so overjoyed to see Mama of course. Believe it or not, am finally taking down Chritmas decorations! I leave them up thru Feb.! I love…
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This is surprising
For the last couple of weeks I have been getting a lot of thick packets of denial information from Medicare. Basically, they are denying all of my IMRT treatments because their medical review person does not belive they are medically necessary. Today I called the Onc's office and the story is that Medicare does not yet…
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almost done
Hello Forum, Well I am on the last stretch. 5 more rads and one more chemo and I am done with the current active treatment plan. It is weird, the infected lymph nodes that were oh so visible are all but melted away. I am so excited to get this phase over with and start towards recover from treatment. I have stage 4…
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constipation
Well looks like I'm posting again. this time about a different topic. Having a hard time with constipation and extremely painful hemrroids. It hurts so much that I cry. I'm scared to be on pain meds cause of side effects and sometimes it makes you more constipated. I was on didlaudid for pain and cetalopram for depression.…
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Surgery on Monday
My husband will fight the beast for the third time on Monday. Doctors have decided to remove his oropharynx (2 cm) surgically, and then decide whether to re-radiate him, give chemo, etc... depending on what they find in surgery, clean margins, etc. So Monday we begin AGAIN. It has been 2 weeks since he was re-diagnosed and…
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Big Day Tomorrow
I haven't posted here in a while. I have been battling pain, depression,, anxiety and a host of other problems. I had a full body CT scan on Monday and tomorrow I meet with my cancer Doc to see if the chemo drug is still shrinking the tumors in my face, lungs, and spine. This is the second scan since chemo started and the…
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One more day
Well, one more day to go before I start my treatment. Thursday at 1:30 I have my 1st radiation session (IMRT). I met with the Chemo Dr today and He told me I was STILL aT20n0m. A CT scan last week shown no signifcent Change in size and for the first time he told me it was hpv+ Which my wife looked at me funny (22years…