My Mom's oral cancer

jscroskrey

My mom was diagnosed this past november for squamous cell oral cancer. She has undergone surgery to remove 4 bottom teeth and a piece of her jaw bone underneath those teeth. The doctor resected the gum with cheek and under the tongue skin. My question is has anyone out there had somthing similar to this. She is very uncomfortable from the surgery, she describes her mouth as feeling tight and also like there are wires in it. She is currrently waiting to have a salivary gland removed because it is not working properly.
Thank you, Janet

psdtx

Hi Janet,
In 1987 I had similiar surgery,w/chemo,and radiation,lost teeth and salivary glands then reconstructive work.After recovery I adjusted well and am doing fine.We are amazingly adaptable creatures us humans.
God Bless
Pat D

lstiff

My mother was also diagnosed with squamous cell gum cancer, has undergone radiation and surgery. It has come back after 7 years as spindle cell gum cancer which seems to be spreading quickly in her mouth/lips. I'd greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who's had experience with this kind of cancer, could recommend treatments (chemo and more surgery don't sound promising), knowledgeable doctors in this field, research, etc. We love her dearly and want her to be able to chose from more promising treatment alternatives, get support from other survivors, etc. Thank you! Laura

Samuel

Hi Janet,
My Dad had a very similiar experience in June 2003. He was diagnosed with Stage IV head/neck squamous cell carcinoma. He had 3 cm of his lower right jaw removed (along with 3 teeth), with a titanium plate inserted in it's place. It was a 9 hr. surgery. He's been on a tube feeding machine because the intense radiation and chemo treatments has caused severe internal throat damage, so he's not able to eat or even swallow a teaspoon of water. We've been crushing his medication and diluting it enough water so that it can pass through his feeding machine. We're beginning speech and swallowing therapy next week, although there are no guarantees. The biggest thing so far has been the constant dryness in his mouth since he has no saliva production. We found a Canadian drug named Sailor that is supposed to help stimulate saliva production. We are waiting for Dad's radiation doc to review this information. My father's oral cancer was misdiagnosed for 2 years and was treated as a bad tooth infection from 3 different dentists. Along with the mental and physical pain of Dad's cancer, we're also dealing with the emotional factor knowing that this cancer could have been caught (and treated) much earlier.

Sincerely,
Karen

lws

The Unknown

Hi Samuel,

I have been on a similiar journey. Oral tonue cancer and then jawbone replacement surgeries. Its a trip to be sure. I have discovered so many things along the way that was not known regarding HOW to make the journey better and more palatable like how to keep the body healthy when the last thing you want to do is chew and eat food. The journey is tough to say the least but it can be made...stay focused on the healing process, not the fears of the unknown.