 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 | What part of the free flap are you questioning?
Ack, I re-read your initial post and see the vein/artery part is off-putting. My thoughts, for whatever they're worth...
If you're only 39 and your cancer is cured, you've got a lot of years ahead of you. Would you be happy with anything less than the best the docs can do for you? Will you be satisfied with that for the next 30 or 40 years? Honestly, I don't miss the vein and artery in my right arm. And the trade off is a very, very workable tongue. The scar on my arm is still pretty nasty looking, although friends tell me it isn't all that bad, but what I gained was a tongue that will work for me for a long time to come.
Last edited by margaret_in_ma; 02-11-2009 09:17 PM.
Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018
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