Dear Amy,

You don't say whether your SCC is on your lower jaw (the mandible) or your upper jaw (the maxilla.) Almost exactly one year ago, I had a partial maxillectomy with a partial palatectomy because of SCC on my upper right gum, which had spread to the inner side of the gum and onto the hard palate.

You are correct in that there are others on this board whose problems make me thankful that this is "all" I had to contend with. However, it is a significant event, and a loss that we have to come to terms with. And it is still cancer, an ugly disease whose voice lurks in the back of your brain trying to make you depressed. That is part of the battle....learning to ignore that voice!

Thankfully, in the case of maxillectomies, there are prosthetic devices that help restore the patient to normal function eventually. I was pretty unhappy for a while after my surgery, but I, like you, was determined to take back my life,,,,,and I have! I do everything I was doing before my surgery, with the help and understanding of friends and family.

If you want to talk about it more, feel free to ask anything at all. It is an odd surgery, and there are not many of "us" on this board. There are a few, however, and we are all a bit ahead of you.

I, too, was told that the maxillectomy often results in a complete cure, without the need for further treatment. I have had a one-year check-up, including a PET/CT scan, and I am all clear, TG! and I had only surgery, without radiation or chemo. My surgeon said from the outset that he is very "aggressive," going for a cure. I had clear margins. I did have a neck dissection, because of the size of my lesion and the length of time it had been overlooked by my dentist, and all of the nodes were clear.