Good Day to All
I had surgery for Stage 4 oral cancer June 22 2010 and had my lower right jaw removed and had the bone and such from my left leg used for the transplant.I had the surgery at Boston EET in MA. I am waiting for both wounds to heal so I can start radiation.I do have an infection right now in the leg.I am not very up to date with all the medical terms of my surgery as after I heard the word cancer back in April my brain when in shut down mode and my Wife has handled all the load.
The Chemo seems to be out for me due to a pre existing health issue with my immune system. They did mention ERBITU as a stand alone injection. Has anyone used this drug alone with radiation after surgery.
Regards
Herbert

Hellow Herbert... I am unable answer your questions about Erbitu but just wanted to welcome you to the OCF forums. The folks here are so supportive and helpful, I'm sure they will response to your questions.

D

Thank You Very Much

Welcome to OCF, Herbert. The operation you had is called a mandibulectomy. I know due to the fact that I had this done last year. It sure is a rough operation to bounce back from. Wishing you all the best with recovery and your upcoming radiation.

Herbert,

My husband had a mandibulectomy with a fibular graft last November. It is a BIG deal! He used a walker for a few weeks and was in a wheelchair when we went to his Doctor appointments. Nine months later, he is playing golf. He feels great and improves every day. The skin on his leg is still darker and sun sensitive. He keeps it covered but it has healed well. He had a skin graft in April on his jaw and will have one more surgery in Oct/Nov to trim off some excess skin. When he has healed from that surgery, he should look much like his old self.

There are a few people here who have had Erbitux. I hope that they will respond.

All the best with your radiation.
Anita

Hello Herbert, and welcome to THE place to be as you go through this battle. Glad to hear that your wife is so supportive, as was mine, who also happens to be an RN. Best of luck to you.

Hi Herbert,

Your surgery sounds almost just like my husband�s. I didn�t know it was called mandibulectomy. The surgeons were probably protecting me after I severely sprained my tongue trying to say Otolaryngology .

When my husband went to the oncologists, they showed us a decision tree put out by the NCCN. Following his path, surgery -> N2b -> neck dissection -> adverse features -> extracapsular spread, they reached the conclusion of Radiation/ Chemo (preferred) or just Radiation. The radiation is very important to prevent recurrence, but, as I understand it, the chemo can help stop any cancer floating around in the system from growing.

Can you swallow? I ask because my husband�s epiglottis has been frozen since the surgery May 4 and he can swallow nothing. The surgeons didn�t know why and gave no suggestions. It wasn�t until we went to a physical therapist that she suggested speech therapy to help with swallowing. He did not start therapy until just before radiation then had to stop. Choking on the thick mucous was torture. He still wakes up choking on spit every half hour or so and it�s four weeks after treatments ended. Had we known, I would have gotten him into the swallow treatment as soon as possible.

Good luck with your treatments
Susan, CG to husband, diagnosed April 2010, age 56

Thank You all for the replies,so I had a mandibulectomy with a fibular graft with 28 nodes removed.I am still in a holding zone until the wounds heal enough for radiation.They want to start hope fully in 10 days since the surgery was June 22. It is a lot rougher operation to bounce back from then I thought before the day of the surgery.I am still dealing with an infection in my leg and the chin is still weeping a little.I can swallow fairly well but I have had to work on it.My leg hurts more then the jaw which I dont understand yet.
On the cisplatin treatments did anyone get ill enough for a blood transfusion or hospital stay for infection?
I am concerned too about the thick mucous with the radiation, is their any meds to help and what about the burning mouth pain later in treatment, any meds that help with that. What I am on now doesn't help me much pain wise, I'm on oxycondone 10-325 every 6 hours.
Any help or info is greatly appreciated.
Best Regards to All
Herbert

I think maybe you nean Erbitux Herbert, I had that along with radiation and then Rad seed implants. That was a couple of years ago. I have severe rad burns and trouble from the implants, but I imagine part of my problems are with the Erbitux but have never had a Dr tell me this. Good luck and win your war against this garbage called OC.

I had cisplatin with my radiation and had several hospital stays for malnutrition/dehydration. While going thru radiation you could be given the fentanyl patch. Its very strong and is good for 3 days. Then you could have the oxycodone for any extra breakthru pain.

You sure are correct, a mandibulectomy is one rough surgery! Many times I was in such pain I wished I hadnt done it at all. Once you get past the first couple months, it gets much much easier. I wont kid you, radiation is very difficult too. There are many side effects which are uncomfortable, some are painful. It can be done so then you can put this whole thing behind you. It just takes time to bounce back.

Best of luck with everything.