bad patient- what is success of treatment

tim koss

Tonsil Cancer - III/IV  -my family member is a horrible patient, he didn't show to appts or kept everyone in dark about appointemtns or diagnoiss or treatments. he may have Traumatic Brain Injury (unrelated)

 

he had regimee of chemo and radiation. tumor seems to have gone away.other probs exist, especially weight won't go back on and he has the occaisonal swelling at jaw. he told me that doc woudl do a PET scan to determine if tumor is gone at 1 month after last radiation session. well that was 3 months ago, now he says its November for PET scan.

 

my question: what happens after treatment. Is cancer cured or does a tumor flair up , soon or months or years laters, how do you tell if your cured or in remission,etc etc etc.

 

in other words how can i tell how he is doing and if necessary push him into follow up treatment?

momall25ofu

Tim, I have no idea what the

Tim, I have no idea what the answer to that is.  Try to go with him to appointments?  Good luck on trying to help your loved one.

 

Pclark21st

They wont do a PET for at

They wont do a PET for at least 3 months after last radiation because the radiation is still working and will show as hot spots.  Then they usually do sone imaging and scope every 2 to 3 months.  Do you have HIPPA release to have docs speak with you about family member medical status?

Pclark21st

We were just told that the

We were just told that the possibility of recurrence is the highest wirhin the 1st year after treatment

OKCnative

If he actually completed his

If he actually completed his initial treatment, then odds are high they got it. The issue going forward would be catching a reoccurrence quickly and addressing it.