1st Visit to a New Surgeon

rickmail9

I was successfully treated for a squamous cell carcinoma on the base of my tongue and tonsil wall (stage III) in 2009. Unfortunately in 2010 I developed osteoradionecrosis which has made the cancer and its treatment seem like a picnic in retrospect. I had about 4 inches of my lower left jaw bone resected in early September and now have a titanium plate along with a fistula in my neck. 11 weeks after the surgery, it still leaks but not as bad. I've had 30 HBO treatments since the surgery. I've been advised by my oral surgeon to have a fibula flap procedure. I'm meeting with the new surgeon for this procedure this Thursday.

If you've had this procedure, would you please provide me with some good questions to ask this surgeon? I've done a lot of reading and I know that all surgeons are not created equal. Any advice based on your experience will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick

CivilMatt

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Rick,

I don’t know squat about that, but some people here did have a discussion about it a few weeks ago. Have you tried the search engine at the top of the page? It sometimes works when I am looking for something specific. Good Luck!

Best,

Matt

George_Baltimore

CivilMatt said:

search
Rick,

I don’t know squat about that, but some people here did have a discussion about it a few weeks ago. Have you tried the search engine at the top of the page? It sometimes works when I am looking for something specific. Good Luck!

Best,

Matt

Fibula flap?
Not sure what you mean by that. Did they only put the titanium plate in without trying a bone graft with the fibula? That's what they did with me. Of course with my luck, the bone graft failed so they had to go back in and take the bone out. About a month and a half later, a screw that was holding the plate in started working loose and became very painful. They ended up having to go back in and take the plate out too so now I have nothing but a swinging jawbone.