Husband just diagnosed

Ssk1256

hi all, my husband was just diagnoased with squamous cell cancer found by needle biopsy of an enlarged lymph node in his neck. doc will do many more tests to get more details. I wondered what treatments you have found most successful. Any experience/helpful guidance you can share. 

We are very anxious. Just starting this whole journey...

 

 

CivilMatt

welcome

 

Ssk1256,

 Welcome to the H&N forum.

 Next to find out is your treatment plan.  Most of us it includes a combination of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery.  In general it is the combination of those three.  For some patients, it may be just one of them.

For me it was surgery, radiation, & Erbitux.

For me I am almost 4 years post treatment and doing pretty darn well.  I would expect that you in four years will also be doing well.

Start drinking lots of water and swallowing, swallowing, swallowing. It was easiest and best advice I received from this forum.

Good luck,

Matt

 

armana

your new journey

I am sorry for both you and your husband that you joined our exclusive club. You need to find out if the cancer is caused by the HPV virus since the prognosis is much better.

Matt is correct about the treatment options, but many of us who test positive for the virus may be able to get away with less treatment. Rerfer to the following article for more

information.

http://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/mis-cancer-news-102/hpv-related-throat-cancer-responds-to-reduced-chemo-radiation-study-704384.html

 

you also need to make sure he takes care of his teeth. some folks with bad teeth pull them all out to avoid future problems but hopefully, that will not be necessary in your husband's case. the following link is a great source of information.

http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealth/Topics/CancerTreatment/OralComplicationsCancerOral.htm

 

I was diagnosed with stage 3 tonsil cancer in Aug 2014, got the tonsil removed and had 6 1/2 weeks of radiation with no chemo. Last petscan sept 2015 declared me cancer free.

Good luck

 

 

 

phrannie51

Hello and welcome....

Getting diagnosed with cancer is a scary thing for sure.  It took me a long time to be able to put my name and the word cancer in the same sentence and have it make sense.

Your husbands Drs. will find out where the cancer is (usually via a PET scan), and make a treatment plan from there.  Mine was in the nasopharnyx (behind the nose) so was inoperatable....I had chemo (Cispatin) and 35 radiation treatments.

You will have plenty of questions during treatments, so come here and ask anything....all questions are answered, nothing is considered out of bounds.  This is a great group of people, and there's always someone here to answer.

p 

Barbaraek

You came to the right place!

Of course you are anxious! There is so much to absorb after you hear the word cancer, and at the same time your brain seems to switch off. You will find this forum very helpful - you can search old messages with key words, read the superthread, and post queries. You'll also find lots of support and encouragement here.

It seems like the first order of business is to find out if they have identified a primary tumor location - that may drive the type of treatment recommended. One caution - don't get too hung up in statistics, they can be very demoralizing. Remember that your husband is 1 of 1 and let him know that it is a beatable cancer. Tough...but beatable.

Barbara

Hondo

And the Journey has begun

I too welcome you CSN H&N, here you will be able to get a lot of help from others with the same type of cancer and how they did along the journey.

 

Tim

Kapital

Treatment

      Super scary stuff being Dx with cancer. My husband went through treatment this time last year. He was diagnosed with stage 4 HPV+ tonsil cancer and the first sign of a problem was a large lymph node in his neck. As for treatment, part of it was diagnostic. All his biopsies came back negative originally, so his doctor decided to take out his tonsills "just in case" and do more extensive biopsies along with the tonsillectomy. As it turned out the cancer was behind his tonsil. He then had seven weeks of radiation with 3 doses of Carboplatin, one at the start, middle and end of radiation treatment. He is now almost one year post treatment and he is doing great. His CT and PET scans, done last month, were clear...Hurray!! Radiation is pretty tuff, but obviously doable. My husband did not have a PEG tube, but he did loose a lot of weight. I would try to have him put on some extra weight before treatment starts if possible.  It is also very important that he stay well hydrated once treatment begins, and I agree with the others, that he must continue to swallow every day. My husband still has much reduced saliva, but thinks he is very, very slowly getting a little more back over time. He carries a water bottle when we go out, but it's not the biggest problem in the world. He also lost a lot of his taste buds. He can taste some things - a little - but things aren't what they used to be. He can eat and swallow anything he wants, but finds moist types of foods better than dry, crunchy foods.  Overall, we put our faith in his doctors, that they would guide us to the best options for his diagnosis, and so far it has worked out well. 

MrsBD

Just diagnosed

Eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with SCC through a lymph node biopsy. Between the time of the diagnosis and the first appointment with my oncologists,  I googled everything and became totally terrified at the information out there. Please be reassured in knowing that much of the data is years old and there have been many advances in cancer treatment recently. Once you know what the plan is, you and your husband will go into attack mode. Waiting is so hard. I had IMRT (radiation) and Erbitux (infusion similar to chemo). Today I am cancer free. We'll be here until your husband can say the same. Come back anytime for practical advice and prayers. 

wmc

Welcome to the H&N Group

Welcome to the H&N group, and also sorry you need to be here. They hav given very good advice. I would add that you do not want to do this at a small local hospital. You want to go to a large place that has what is called, a tumor board. That is when all the doctors get together and all review and see what you do have and then they ALL decide what is the best corse of treatment. There is no real standard treatment, other than most times it is one or all, chemo, radiation. and or surgery, and this is when it gets tailerd to his needs. Now you said they found it in a lymph gland, so it most likely is some where else and that will be what is called the primary. Sometimes they never do find the primary site. 

This all is very scary, so you will have many questions; I do recomend reading the post called Superthread read only, it is the top one of the post and will help with so many questions and terms. Next write down all your questinos and leave room for answers. Just hand it to your doctor and he should answer them. When you just ask a question and he answere, you can go blank and forget what you needed to ask. I thought I was prepaired for anything he could say, I was wrong. You can also tape record it and listen to it later as well. It is true that HPV+ does respond to treatment better than No HPV+, but it also has better odds of it returning as well. Not trying to alarm you. but just giving you facts so you will know how to fight this. 

You have several things to know. You are not alone in this. Everyone here will help with answere and a good ear if you need to just vent, we all have done that too. We do understand what you both will be going through. It is a very hard and bumppy road to go down, but you will get through it and this is very beatable.  Please if you do google know that much of the information is old, and never look at odds as they are only in general and most always oh so wrong. Only four belived I would make it other than my doctor, but I knew I would once they removed my tumor. My son and brother did not think I would. Get an attitude, you will beat this and then fight like hell, and it will get you through it. I am coming up on 28 months free of cancer. You just take one day at a time, and only today matters. I will add a likk of major hospitals and it is set for Head & Neck but I look at both that and cancer. I want one that os good in both. For you as a caregiver, it is just as hard as you will feel his pain, even if he doesn't have any because you love him. You will need your rest to beable to help him. If you are too worn out you won't help, so set aside some time everyday, that is just for you. Even if only 15 - 30 min.

I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. You both will get through this.

http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/ear-nose-and-throat

 

Bill

calsnana

Just started treatment

SSk1256,

My husband had the same bio in throat. We started treatment on Dec 28. Chemo once a week, radiation everyday. 

The first 2 weeks were not bad. The side effects started on him at the end of 2 weeks. It is going to be a challenge for you too. There are days I am at a loss on what to do to help him. 

We are now trying to figure out what to eat. Throat is so burned it is hard to swallow. We have appt this week for feeding tube consulation. We should have already had this done when treatment started. He did not want it and now he realizes he needs it. He has started drinking boost this weekend.

gotta go will finish 

calsnana 

kdot2003

Hi, 
Welcome and sorry you

Hi, 

Welcome and sorry you have to be here at all.  I am 5 weeks out of treatment, rads and Cisplatin.  It IS so scary.  I researched this site and found out so much information it was so helpful.  Best wishes! Karen

Azpaul50

calsnana said:

Just started treatment

SSk1256,

My husband had the same bio in throat. We started treatment on Dec 28. Chemo once a week, radiation everyday. 

The first 2 weeks were not bad. The side effects started on him at the end of 2 weeks. It is going to be a challenge for you too. There are days I am at a loss on what to do to help him. 

We are now trying to figure out what to eat. Throat is so burned it is hard to swallow. We have appt this week for feeding tube consulation. We should have already had this done when treatment started. He did not want it and now he realizes he needs it. He has started drinking boost this weekend.

gotta go will finish 

calsnana 

Tube

I felt the same way about a feeding tube and have had one since October.  it served its purpose while healing from a full laryngectomy and was kept in anticipation of "cleanup" radiation later (potential sideffects).  Radiation has been cancelled (so far) because of proximity to older radiation treatment in the plan.  You can't do a place twice.  So, I'm waiting for PET results to see if i'm clean.  If I am, the tube comes out but i'd just as soon keep it.  Eating after a laryngectomy is not a great experience, one I could do without.  The tube is the least of bothers since i started this voyage.  - Paul

swopoe

My husband was diagnosed with

My husband was diagnosed with tongue cancer last October. It is very scary but this board is a great source of help so welcome. My husband had surgery, rads, and chemo, and he just finished treatments today. And so far we have made it. I wish you all the best. Everything is still very raw for me as the wife, so if you want to talk let me know. ❤️

Grandmax4

Hang on

Now the journey begins~~~take notes, have your hubs eat as much as he can, stay hydrated, and visit this board whenever you need advice~~~I am moving toward my 5th year out ( November 2, 2011 )..the friends I have made on this board, the knowledge,advice, laughter and tears, this is my safe place..make it yours..