Hi - this is my first post on this site & not sure I'm following all the jargon, but here goes ...

my mum was diagnosed with tongue cancer approx 3 months ago. she had about half her tongue removed & a neck dissection. latter revealed cancer in 2 of her lymph nodes so she starts radiotherapy (daily for 6 weeks) next week.

reason for posting is that - having been improving - she has gone downhill quite rapidly over the past week/10 days. she started feeling a lot more pain in her neck, is v. tired, is finding it harder & harder to talk & just cannot face eating. she has been readmitted to hospital & is back on feeding tube etc. they have run various tests & told us at the end of last week that she had a palsy in one of her vocal cords. She had an MRI scan on Frid & no further cancer was detected ... BUT it seems inconceivable to me that the things could not be linked. no one has offered any further explanation as yet as to why she is getting worse.

has anyone heard of or experienced anything similar ??

all thoughts gratefully received - thank you.

The pain does get worse in that time frame for the surgery and neck dissection, I have no idea about the vocal chords. Good luck to her and lots of luck to you if you are the caregiver Chaffinch

Hi -- Been coming here for many years and never heard of anyone having "vocal cord palsy" which is probably why you didn't get a lot of answers. Try doing a "search" on those words in your search window on the right, and maybe something might come up. Wish I could help, but I don't know anything about that. BTW, I have a picture of a chaffinch that I took in England - sweet little bird!
Good luck to your Mum and please let us know how she is doing - we sure care! Warmly, JaneP

Hi, Chaffinch....I, too, had some vocal cord palsy after my neck dissection. I don't know why your mother's condition has declined lately, so I can't comment on that. But I CAN comment on the vocal cord issue, because I had a problem after my neck dissection. I suppose that her vocal cord involvement could be something else, but here is my experience: Before my surgery, I was a pretty good amateur singer....doing some solo work at church primarily....classical stuff..some funerals.....and after my neck dissection, I could speak in a normal tone, but I couldn't raise my voice at all, nor could I make any sort of musical sound. I was heart-broken! I had it checked, and one vocal cord seemed to be somewhat paralyzed, and not closing properly. Gradually, it got better, and now I can speak and sing, though I still have a little trouble speaking in a crowd, and my singing voice is not what it used to be. I still sing, but except for cantoring in church, I don't do major solos any more. My ENT said that the laryngeal nerve had likely been "insulted" by being moved aside during the surgery. It gradually returned nearly to normal. I hope your mother's problem is similar and not due to any spread of the cancer. Good luck! XO--Colleen