Cancer recurrence

Sorry to hear about your mom. I had my left mandible removed 01/2011. I was in the hospital 2 weeks but no real surgery complications. Lymph nodes were positive. It was about 6 weeks later that I had chemo and radiation. It was difficult, I won't lie, however, we are each different. My worst side effect was sores on my lips but none in my mouth. Some have mucus issues but i did not. Midway thru tx was the hardest for me but i slept 20 out of every 24 hours. I mean soundly, not tossing and turning.  I did have a feeding tube but continued to eat what little I could by mouth too. My chemo was Cisplatin. The radiation tx are only about 10-15 minutes a session and are not painful. Nutrition and hydration are key to the easiest journey.  I was happy that I had my g tube in place before I needed it. And, I think most everyone here will agree that a port, or I had a Hohn catheter, make tx easier as well.  Encourage your Mom to gain as much weight as she can before starting the rads/chemo.

joannaw81 said:

Hello

Just take it one day at a time. My mom was originally diagnosed in Nov of 2010. Within first 2 years she had surgery on her left tonsil with left neck disection, then radiation, then tongue surgery, thean right neck disection, then more surgery to her tongue and countless biopsies. It happend to my mom that there was a spread to the other side of her neck in one of her lymph nodes and doctors did not know where it came from. Sometimes the cancer can stay inactive for a quite sometime and later show up.

My mom has been cancer free to 3 years and 4 months, thank God, it is a miracle. I'm not going to say that I am not afraid that it will come back again however if you think about it too much it will take over your life. Positive thinking is very important. She can do it, just be there for her and promise her that she will get better.

You have my prayers.

Since it is now considered a precaution, the decision becomes more difficult. You'll want to consider your Mom's age as well as quality of life. Rads w/o chemo or chemo w/o rads may also be an option.  My Mother was in her eighties when dx with stomach cancer and I would not even entertain the idea of radiation for her. She did have successful surgery for the cancer. Perhaps the ONC can give you more insight into how much the chances of recurrance are reduced with the precautionary measure.  It's a rough road so you want to satisfy any questions you might have upfront.  Best to write them down and take to the appt. with you.  How does your Mom feel about the prospect of chemo and rads?  

littlemisskitty said:

Mom's feelings

At first before we got the biospy report stating it hadn't spread, she assumed what the doctor said was true, that it was spreading and it needed treatment immediately and chemo and radiation was the way to go before it spread throughout her body. Now that we have the report and it lists the only lymph node affected was the one tested and that even though it grew, it was removed surgically, she's rethinking it. We are still going forward with plans to meet with the doctors, we have prepped tons of soft food for the months ahead. We even got her a few head scarves but she honestly doesn't really know the side effects. I have mentioned a few to her basically so that we can prepare things ahead of time but I don't think she realizes the full extent of what is coming. She is meeting with her cancer doctor tomorrow as well as the chemo doctor at Yale where she has chosen to do the surgeries so far. It's an hour from the house which has me concerned because Chemo makes a person sick, real sick and an hour drive can feel much longer when you are stopping for a sick person. (My friend told me this with her husband. He was driving to NYC though for his treatments since his was a terminal cancer so he had a 3 year drive not an hour). 

 

She seems worried but without knowing what her quality of life might be afterwards I think she's just going along with it. After tomorrow we might know more of the results and the precautions. The only reason I was going to go along with not making her think twice about it, is because both tumors she has had so far has quadtripled in size within a month of being tested. The first tumor in her mouth was in her gum. She had a pet scan and it was 4 cm. Two weeks later they did surgery and it had grown by 400% and was into her sinus cavity making them have to recontruct it along with the palette of her mouth and get an orbirator made for her right side since it was completely removed on the upper jaw. Then this time she went to the doctor a week prior to finding this lump herself. He refused a pet scan even though she requested it stating it had been over 6 months and he had orginally said one would be done. He said she was healthy and not to worry about anything. She really wanted the reassurance because first off she had been promised a scan, plus she told me before she went in, she was feeling so tired almost like she did before when she had cancer. She came home after the appointment feeling confident she was just not getting enough sleep and instead had her lymph node swell up. Then she had a pet scan and again within 2 weeks had the surgery and again it had grown by 200% this time. Does everyone's tumors grow so fast? Is that normal? But that's the only reason I think she is so ok with going through it thinking it will stop this once and for all in its tracks and she won't have to go through this again. 

SCC normally will not grow that fast. Mine was 3cm x2.5cm and they think that took at least one year. There is other cancers that do grow fast and very agressive. Thoughts and prayers for you.

Bill