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Head and Neck Cancer

done!
I had been posting weekly on hubby's journey, which was going well until week 5 when he developed the dreaded fever of more than 100.4. This resulted in a four day stay in the hospital and then a slight nose dive. I am not sure I would recommend being admitted to a teaching hospital again. There was a great deal of…
Mouth sore
I am 8 months post treatment. Have had 2 clear scans and one visual exam a few weeks ago. I still have issues with thrush. I have notices a small white mark at the back of my tongue where it meets my gum. Right in the corner. It almost looks like a crack in the corner of your mouth you get when you have thrush. It's white,…
Skin issues long after treatment
hello everyone. It has been over 18 months since surgery (base of tongue and both sides of neck), radiation and chemo. I have an interesting issue with my skin still so long out. The skin above the surgery cuts seems ok but below the cut is sensitive, gets rashes etc. I have limited feel above the cut but full feeling…
Change in Mental status
I am the caregiver for my 70 year old husband. Been through 33 radiation and 3 chemo cisplatin in April. Had one adjuvant cisplatin 5FU July 25. Had complication of acute renal failure in April that resolved. On Prozac for depression. Still has bouts of nausea vomiting due to mucus or some unknown. Has been treated for…
Intro and radiation time
Hi all. I'm a 47 yo male. I was diagnosed in early August via a FNA of a left 4.6cm node which revealed SCC (p16+). No visual of the primary was found via several (awake) scoping attempts. PET and MRI seem to indicate a small-ish primary on the left tonsil, but everyone across multiple teams at multiple hospitals had…
Newly Diagnosed and Confused About Scans
Hi, all. This is my first post but I have been reading for the past week or so and I really appreciate the information and advice you all have been generous enough to share. I'll try to keep this brief. I have been diagnosed with SCC of the soft palate/throat. I had CT scans done, which the doctor said showed no spread to…
White patches inside my mouth. Is it the Decadron?
Hello, good people! This morning, I found white patches on the left, upper side of my mouth (where the tumor was removed and where they are focusing the rads). This past week was my first week of rads, and I had my first chemo on Monday. They gave me 3 anti-nausea meds to take. Decadron was one of them. It's a steroid, so…
Are my Oncologists Too relaxed?
Hello all: 1) I was diagnosed with Cancer at Base of Tongue stage 4b HPV+, on 8/22/16. My medical oncologist just stated that "I may want to see my dentist." on 8/22. I saw my Radiation Oncologist on 9/15/16 and he told me see your dentist ASAP and ask him to extract only those teeth that are hopeless. I asked him how…
Caretaker Advice
My husband has 9 more rads and 1 chemo left! I have been able to work other than days off for appts with Doctors and the chemo infusion days. We have a supportive family and a daughter that is a nurse, so I feel that he has been well taken care of. However, based on the wonderful advice on this forum I am trying to plan…
Catch 22 Need advice ASAP
Hello all, I have a dilema and will appreciate advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation: My swollen left neck lymph node appear on July 16, 2016, followed by the right on the 25th. I had a PET CT scan on 8/17/16 and was diagnosed with H&N cancer stage 4b HPV+, primary : base of tongue. Yesterday 9/15/16 I had…
First rads and chemo yesterday. Today was day 2 of rads; 30 more to go!
Yesterday was my first day of treatment. Just as it happened on the simulation day, I kept thinking how much tighter the mask felt, compared to how it felt the day they made it! I managed to get through with a prescription for Ativan and Pandora playing in the background. Today was my second rads. 2 down, 30 to go!…
My Catch 22 and Advice ASAP
Thanks for all the great advice that other people on this group have given to me. The shorter version of it is that: 1) I have had CT scan, needle biopsy of lymph node, Pet CT scan (8/17), MRI and Biopsy at the base of the tongue (8/30/16) 2) Based on this my Medical & Rad ocologist have both said I am at stage 4b, even…
Vocal chord cancer
My husband has been diagnosed with vocal chord cancer - he doesnt know which treatment would be the best for him - surgery or radiation - he is in the very early stages. Does anyone have any info on either treatment?
Arnicare Gel for Throat Post-treatment
Me Again with a Suggestion you CAN get. 2 wks ago was cleaning out my Medical Supply Cabinet. Low and behold found an old tube of Arnica that both my husband & I used from eye surgeries 8 years ago. It really helped with the swelling, pain, and reduced the back eyes dramatically. I can't believe I forgot about this All…
Not much progress in cancer treatment and mortality from 1950 to 2004
Hello all, This is not about H&N cancers, but statitistics about all cancers, which shows in the period from 1950 to 2004 (the latest I could find in this source, which unfortunately has all those copyright warnings) Here we go: in 1950 the number of cancer deaths in both sexes and all races in U.S. were 193.1 per 100,000…
Benecalorie
Has anyone used Benecalorie? It was recommended to me today. Any reviews? Supposedly it has 330 in 1 1/2 ounces And is neutral flavored. That combined with a Boost Very High Calorie is almost 900 calories in a little over 9 ounces. My husbands doc was not happy at all with his 7 pound in one week weight loss.
Trachea squamous cell carcinoma
Haven't been on this forum for a while. I hope the rest of you are doing well. I was treated for tonsil cancer a year and half ago. I thought I was one of the lucky ones as my follow up scans were negative. My last pet scan came back with an indication that I had something brewing in my trachea. A bronchoscope was done and…
Why is he fighting every step
Hi I just need some opinions. My husband has been going thru rad and chemo and is almost done, 1 more chemo and 7 more radiation treatments. We were given the whole scenerio from day one of what to expect along the way and it has gone just that way. Hes lost 43 and counting pounds hasnt been able to swallow anything except…
Side effects to expect with rads to upper, left back where back molars used to be + left neck?
I've been reading a lot of posts on the discussion board, but none seem to talk about cancer in the upper mouth, on the gingiva (gums). When they removed the tumor, they removed three UPPER molars and a canine tooth on the left side, and did a partial maxillectomy. The plan is to target the radiation on the upper mouth on…
1 Year NED...BUT
As of the end of August (2016), I was ready to celebrate my first year after treatment for metastaic base-of-tongue cancer ... and then I wound up in the hospital again. I went in for my bi-monthly checkup with my ENT, got a clean bill of health, and felt wonderful about being NED (although I had been feeling progressively…
clinical trial
Transition from PEG to "real" food
I have really been struggling with the depression and anxiety lately, which doctors and everyone here has assured me is normal. One of the things that I KNOW would make me feel better is getting off this dang feeding tube. I know I shouldn't push it, but it would make me feel so much more like I'm headed in the direction…
Found New Help for Saliva
Hello All, My new fantastic Dentist who is very knowledged in new treatments and cancer, had me try a product that has come out and for me, it is fantastic! It is called "NeutraSal", a supersaturated Calicum Phosphate Rinse. Within 2 days I experienced a better result in helping my dry mouth. The best I have tried. You are…
floor of mouth resection
Please help. I'm in an absolute panic,I was diagnosed on August 18th with Squamos cell carcinoma in the floor of my mouth.I just met with a surgical team the other day and they want to do a floor of the mouth resection and take a skin graft from my thigh to rebuild the floor of my mouth along with a neck dissection .They…
New Memeber with decision to make
Hi. I am a new member. I have tonsil scc p16 HPV positive. And a couple or three lymh nodes effected. The primary was the tonsil and they took it out last week (It was 1.2cm) Nothing BOT or anywhere else. (I think I am getting all these acronyms correct :) . When they removed tonsil last week they confirmed it was the…
An Update
Hi all - thought I'd check in plus give an update of how treatment is going. Tomorrow I start my final cycle of chemo. This being Carboplatin, Paclitaxel and Cetuximab. I'm infused every Thursday and tomorrow will be number 21 of 24. I hate to say it but the Carbo has been tough. My body has developed a dislike for it and…
Tongue reconstructive surgery
Well, it's been 4 months and I'm still struggling with my tongue. It's apparent it won't get much better now that it's healed. I can't envision having my tongue tied the rest of my life. Has anyone had post surgery reconsruction of their tongue? Mine is tied down to the left and is having a significant affect on my speech…
MuGuard review
I've been using it off and on, but to be honest, the wait time between eating and drinking is an hour, and for that reason, I don't feel it was worth the hassles, and cost. It does work, but so did the Lidocaine swish and spit, or the swish and swallow pink stuff. Difference is that no wait time for the latter two. Thought…
Bleeding on neck
Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with bleeding on the neck? My husband finished his proton therapy yesterday and he has an area of his neck that keeps bleeding. It forms a scab but we have been putting neosporin and a non-adherent bandage on it at night so he doesn't get blood on the pillow. During the night the…
Burning Tongue and Mouth
Good morning, I apologize for all the questions this week but things are not good with my poor husband. Can anyone tell me the best relief for burning tongue and mouth? He has 6 rad treatments left so trying to help him make it.

Head and Neck Cancer

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