Happy Happy New Year Belated And Wishing Everyone A Happy And Wonderful 2025

wbcgaruss

Hello everyone and I would like to wish everyone a wonderful New Year members and visitors alike on this forum.

I am obviously a day late and a dollar short on this one but I am hoping to get a little Grace on this one. I was busy with a few things and the day slipped past me. I apologize.

But the old saying is "Better Late Than Never".

So here it is—Wishing everyone a Happy Happy New Year and Most Definitely a Cancer-Free Life from here on out.

And my prayers are for everyone on here that you all get through any cancer situations you are in and that this Evil Disease will never darken your door again.

Feel free to comment and share greetings, stories, information, fact, well wishes, etc.

Remember NEGU (Never Ever Give Up)

I celebrate with you

Take Care, God Bless

Russ

smacksie

Happy New Year all. New to the site and I have a question. I am a little more than 3 months out from neck and tongue dissection for tongue cancer. I just got labs back and they show that I may now be having thyroid dysfunction. I do have nerve damage from the surgery with numbness on the whole left side of my face and neck from above my ear to left shoulder. Has anyone else had thyroid issues after surgery?

wbcgaruss

Hello, smacksie, and welcome to the CSN H&N discussion forum.

I see you haven't gotten any responses yet so I am going to weigh in with what I have.

As far as thyroid issues it depends on how much radiation they end up getting in your treatment process. Some people on here have really had drastic changes and others not so much. My thyroid levels changed enough that I needed a medication dose level change but it was not a radical change.

Also, the nerve damage you have is not out of the ordinary, many with neck dissection have nerves cut in the process and experience numbness afterward to some extent.

Usually, there are some effects with everyone who has endured head and neck treatment for cancer and unfortunately, it is all part of the process. The good news is that the after-effects are mostly minor and not big trouble and easy to deal with.

It's not a bad trade-off for getting rid of cancer.

Thanks for stopping by this little enclave and we do hope you stick around a while.

Our motto on here is NEGU (Never Ever Give Up)

I would also recommend you check out the Superthread at the top of the page there is loads of information in there with links and you will find it helpful.

Wishing You The Best

Take Care, God Bless

Russ

MarineE5

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1720021#Comment_1720021

Hello Smacksie,

Russ covered a lot information for you. I had Base of Tongue cancer, Radical Neck Disection. Like you, I had nerve damage along my right side (verses your left) from the top of my ear down to my right shoulder area. It took a long time for the nerves to heal up, but it did happen. This is not a Sprint, it is a Marathon so slow and steady gets us there. My Oncologist told me after I completed my Radiation that it wasn't a matter "IF" my Thyroid would fail but a matter of "WHEN" it would fail. As Russ mentioned, a lot depends on the amount of Radiation we received. I take Levothyroxine each morning. We have to keep an eye on our "TSH" levels during bloodwork.

I am glad you found this site, a lot of good information here, but I am sorry for the reason you are here. Check out the 1st post "The Read Only Sticky" many members have posted helpful information.

My Best to You and Everyone Here

smacksie

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1720064#Comment_1720064

MarineE5 thank you for your answer to my question. It is a relief to know that this numbness and my left shoulder function will get better eventually. The cancer was limited to my tongue only and they got clear margins with a partial tongue dissection. And even though I had a few suspicious nodes on scan, they were clear, so no radiation or chemo for me. Glad you have progressed so well on this journey. Take care and God bless.

smacksie

Thank you Russ for your answer too. I wish you well on your journey too. God bless. I am not receiving any other treatment since cancer was limited to just a small area on the left side of my tongue and completely excised with surgery. I do still have tongue pain and it is difficult to tell if this is due to nerve damage or more cancer. No more lumps or lesions present though, so that is a good sign. I pray daily that this journey is over for me and I only have to wait for these nerves to heal. I will be patient, and I am way too stubborn to give up!

wbcgaruss

You are very welcome smacksie, and thanks for getting back to us. We are glad we helped in some way with information and support hopefully.

You are very lucky and Blessed just to need a minimum amount of treatment, surgery only, to get rid of your cancer. This minimizes your side effects to a degree and hopefully. You may want to explore getting physical therapy for your shoulder and anything else will just take time to resolve.

Wishing You The Best

Take Care, God Bless

Russ