What to Expect with Tongue Cancer

Hello
Kell82,

Welcome to this site, sorry you have to be here at all, but it is a good site to find answers to the many questions you will have in the near future. What to expect? A lot of that depends on the Staging and Treatment to follow, so I won't flood you with a bunch of information until you find out soon, as to the actual stage of your Dad's cancer.

The plan of attack may come with several options to fight cancer. Your Dad and family will decide what the next move will be. Hopefully, your Dad and family will not have to wait too long to find out the results of all the tests and he can begin to plan his next move.

I am sure your mind is traveling at warp speed right now, I know I was first frozen in time for a short spell, then my mind was racing. As mentioned by Ditto, there are a lot of helpful people here to answer your questions, night and day, so shout them out to us.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

the world according to
Kell82,

I had Stage IVa, SCC, BOT, HPV+, spread to 1 lymph node. I had surgery to remove spot on tongue and Jugular Vein dissection to remove lymph node. I had 35 rads with 8 Erbitux doses. I had a PICC and a PEG for infusions and nutrition respectively.

It hasn’t been my best year, but I made it through only slightly beat up. I am not the bravest warrior among the H&N family, but I made it through (and so will you). There are a few side effects, but no guarantee on which hit you hard and which bounce off.

Soon your team will reveal your plan and give you a heads up on what to expect. If you ask here you will get the unadulterated facts straight from the horse’s mouth (we aim to please).

For now try to relax, take someone with you always (more ears) and get prepared for a ride.

Best,

Matt

luvofmylif said:

My husband was diagnosed
My husband was diagnosed last July with SCC at base of tongue also. We have been through alot since then and have learned alot. You will be glad to be on this site. It has been a sort of security blanket for me along the way because it is all very scary.

Take things one step at a time. During the diagnostic and planning phase be prepared to ask alot of questions and to learn alot. I read alot about this particular kind of cancer and although doing that probably wasn't always a good idea, I feel it helped me to ask informed questions about my husbands treatment and choices for treating the cancer.

There is gonna be alot going on and if you are like me, you will be in shock for awhile. I think I still am. As others have said this cancer can be cured.

Joan

tongue cancer
I was diagnosed with Tongue Cancer on May 17th 2012,this was also at the back of my tongue, after seeing specialist it was decided to have 35 Radiotheraphy doses over 7 weeks and 3 chemotheraphy doses in weeks 1,4 and 7.

prior to starting treatment I had a PEG fitted as we were not sure if I would be able to eat properly, this was the best thing that happened as it turned out as I could only eat soup during the treatment.

I finished my treatment early August and could still only eat soup, my speech had pretty well gone, during the next4 months I have started to eat properly (Steaks,Pies and a lot of desserts inc custard)I am now starting to put on weight( Lost about 40lbs when started treatment)and my speech is gradually coming back.

During the treatment and until about a month ago I was getting frustrated and depressed that I could not eat or talk properly (this is probably worse for your partner because they cannot help you, once I was eating a reasonable amount of food I insisted on them taking my PEG out as this was the only way that I could see of improving my eating (I had nothing to fall back on if I did not eat).

My wife said she felt alone during the time of my treatment as I could only concentrate on getting through to the end of treatment and also during the recovery period (Still ongoing), I could not talk to her about how I was feeling until very recently as you don't want to upset them to much, It was always in the back of my mind that treatment may not work and that I would never eat or talk properly again, even after having had 2 follow up consultations that show the Cancer has gone and did not spread to anywhere else.

You will get very frustrated and anxious about whether the treatment is working, fed up of attending clinics for daily Radiotheraphy and consultations, but keep in there and hopefully everything will go ok.

ITS A HARD ROAD TO FOLLOW!!!!!!!

Mike

My 77 year old Dad was diagnosed with base of tongue cancer in July of 2011, stage 2 and underwent approximately 33 rad treatments. The dr did not recommend surgery. The cancer was discovered because the tumour drained from the back of his throat into his neck and formed a wierd lump but the cancer had not actually mestastized. My Dad never drank or smoke or was overweight, always slender and worked out, no cancer or heart disease in the family. The dr suspected the tumour was HPV but it was not tested for HPV.

This survivor network really helped me get through this with my Dad. So keep reading and posting!