Hi all,

I am doing some research to help with my coping and understanding of a recent diagnosis to my future father in law.

my future father in law (ive been engaged about 2 and a half months) has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor that resides near his left jaw bone. He�s been going to a bunch of specialists for a while to try to pinpoint the cause of the pain he�s been feeling for the past 6-9 months, and they�ve finally found the tumor. He has surgery scheduled for Wednesday to remove it (along with some of the surrounding bone, tissue, and muscle), which will then be followed by rounds of radiation/chemotherapy as appropriate and then reconstructive surgery when the area is cancer-free. They have also seen some "bumps" on his neck so they will open the neck during the surgery and check that out/clean it out as well if necessary. I�ve been told that the surgery will be tricky, most likely an all day affair, but that they are optimistic about it and the chances are good that the cancer is localized to only this area. He will be in the intensive care unit of the hospital for about a week and then either return home or go to general care based on how things go.

I am trying to remain optimistic but get very scared when i read about the survival rates and everything that he will be going through in the upcoming months.
- does anyone have similar experiences- with tumors near jaw bone? this happened to my future father in law in the past and they did surgery to remove it. the current tumor is behind his scar tissue.
- what is he allowed to eat/drink, what can i bring him that will help?

feeling very overwhelmed, scared, nervous. but it has helped now that i have found this website to talk to others. thanks in advance for your help.

Does your future FIL also live in NJ? If so,he has access to several excellent CCC's Comprehensive Cancer Centers and I hope that is where he is being treated. What is the name of the hospital?

There are many members that will be giving you some feedback, but it would good to know some things about his diagnosis and treatment, such as staging and the name of the chemo. This information can be put into your signature section so you don't have to keep writing. Take a look at some of th signatures so that you will have an idea of what should be there, then go to your profile and add the info at the bottom.

Palmtree, welcome to OCF. You will find lots of support here and help with your concerns. An important thing to remember, everyone here is different. We all heal and respond to treatments/meds in our own way. Please add a signature line when you are able to. There are several members from NJ/PA.

Ive just gone thru a similar operation. My lower L jaw was removed and replaced with a steel jaw. It sounds like my surgery was more involved than what you described. My cheek was removed, thats where my cancer was the cheek and it invaded my jawbone. I was in ICU for a few weeks, then a few weeks in other parts of the hospital. Radiation/chemo I had during my first round of cancer so I didnt have them. Thats also why it took me a long time in the hospital. Skin that has had radiation doesnt heal as well.

Let your FIL eat/drink anything he can. Currently, I use a feeding tube and eat only very soft foods like yogurt, soup broth and pudding. This is only temporary, things will improve.

Your FIL will have whats called a neck dissection. It takes a few lymph nodes from his neck and checks them for cancer. It will be done while he has his other surgery. My surgery was about 11 hours with 5 surgeons. You will see the neck dissection abbreviated as ND.

There are a few of us here who have gone thru this type of treatment. Best of luck with everything. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Hi christine, im glad you have been through a similar experience. i think he'll be having the same surgery you did, but will have chemo/radiation after he heals. he is supposed to heal for 4-6 weeks before that part starts.

i will update my signature, once i know more details- i honestly dont know much ive only been told 2nd hand info from my fiance.

my future fil lives in syracuse, i know he is having the surgery done by an ENT but i dont think its a CCC.

See if you can get him to visit this site. It will be invaluable to him.

i definitely will... he'll be in the hospital for up to a week and then home recovering- once hes at that point and has a lot of "time on his hands" so to speak, ill suggest this place for him. thank you!!!

Palm,

I too have had a similar surgery. My primary tumor was on my right side, in my molar area. It was a large tumor that destroyed my jaw and took up nearly the whole side of my face. I also had 3 lymph nodes that were cancerous.

My medical team needed to shrink the tumors before surgery so my radiation and chemo was before surgery. The surgery was done at UWMC in Seattle and was a 17 hour fun fest. Due to the size of the tumor there were complications, during the surgery my facial nerve was compromised, paralyzing the right side of my face.

My jaw was removed and replaced with my fibula and my inner cheek tissue was removed and my mouth was lined with tissue from my fibula area (fibular free flap). I had a ND removing 40 some odd nodes during this surgery.

Christine (my hero) is completely right in having your FIL eat whatever he wants as he can. A PEG tube may be inserted and be fed by that or if he can eat orally he may only be able to get down liquids. Have your FIL sign up to this sight so that he can get support from those of us that have walked down this path. It will be important for advice, support and just to vent.

Your FIL may only get 1 chance at beating this beast so be sure to get the best care available...Cancer Care Centers are a great option there. Good luck if I can be of any help I'd be happy to help, although ChristineB is my hero (among others on this forum) and I believe so valuable in the info department.

Good luck

hi thank you for your story and advice eric S!
future FIL went into surgery on wednesday. the tumor was removed and the doctors are fairly certain and optimistic they got it all out. the flap was taken of his chest/side area and inserted- apparently during the surgery they were at first not going to insert the flap, and leave it open, but then decided to.
i am not sure if there was a full neck dissection or not.
he was in the ICU wednesday through sunday and then today he was moved into regular surgical inpatient! they said hes been healing well and is no longer considered "urgent care".
thank you for your advice so far and ill continue to keep you updated/ask questions.

forgot to mention- he did have his whole side of the jaw removed/teeth included, steel jaw was insertd. facial reconstruction will happen down the road. right now he has trach and peg tubes in. will he be getting fake teeth inserted during reconstructive surgery? thanks!

Sounds like your FIL is doing very well. Thats great news. I have a jaw made of steel too. The teeth would be done by a specialized dentist or oral surgeon familar with prosthodontics. Sometimes teeth are put in immediately during surgery.