| | Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 77 Supporting Member (50+ posts) |  Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 77 | Hi Charm,
I just had my 4 year post-treatment check-up last week.
I said to my ENT that I expected that when I pass on, it will be from this disease.
He was rather taken aback by my comment, and he told me that in his opinion, for all intents and purposes I am cured and have a very small chance of recurrence (he threw out a number of something like 1 or 2 %). He said that after the first 2 years of survival, the odds go to about 5% in the third year, then drop to the 1 or 2% odds thereafter. The caveat was that I was not a smoker.
At any rate, the 5 year milestone was to him more or less moot.
So, I don't know. I really don't worry about it too much, but of course would be mortified if I found a lump somewhere.
Best wishes,
Chris
SCC left tonsil, 2 lymph nodes, modified radical neck dissection, IMRT (both sides) completed 10/25/06, Erbitux and Cisplatin weekly, Ethyol daily
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 291 Gold Member (200+ posts) | | Gold Member (200+ posts)
Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 291 | Hi,
I've looked for a place to post this. While I was exploring where I was going to have treatment I came into contact with a 93 year old woman who lives by herself in north central Kansas. She still drives a car around her small town. She was a patient at MD Anderson in the early 1970's for treatment for cancer of the oral tongue--under her tongue. She said she caught her early, but there was no place around that really treated it--except--she was given these three options: Sloan-Kettering, Mayos, and MD Anderson. Her husband chose for her MD Anderson. So she had her treatment there over a number of weeks, which she described for me. She was given the choice of surgery or radiation. She chose radiation because, "I did not want my tongue to be cut." She took at least part of it in the form of rods placed in her tongue. Sounded like she did not have lots of side effects, except she had to stay out of the sun. She finally lost her lower teeth recently.
She also told me in the 1980's sometime one of the residents who was in on treating her came to her house (believe me it's remote & off the interstate), rang the doorbell, and there he was. He said, "I just had to look you up and see how you were doing." So they chatted awhile, and then he took off as he was driving to Colorado.
Well, there you go . . . probably people like that in places you don't suspect. I have another one I'll share another time.
I think you guys (on this thread) are all doing great. Hats off to you, Charm!
Anne
SCC tongue 9/2010, excised w/clear margins:8 X 4 mm, 1 mm deep
Neck Met, 10/2010, 1 cm lymph node; 12/21/'10: Neck Diss 30 nodes, 29 clear, micro ECE node, part tongue gloss, no residual scc
IMRT & 6 cisplatin 1/20/11-2/28/11 at MDA
GIST tumor sarcoma, removed 9/2011, no chemo needed
Clear on both counts as of Fall, 2021
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 5,260 Likes: 3 "OCF Canuck" Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | "OCF Canuck" Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 5,260 Likes: 3 | Wow - that's awesome... Thanks for sharing.
Cheryl : Irritation - 2004 BX: 6/2008 : Inflam. BX: 12/10, DX: 12/10 : SCC - LS tongue well dif. T2N1M0. 2/11 hemigloss + recon. : PND - 40 nodes - 39 clear. 3/11 - 5/11 IMRT 33 + cis x2, PEG 3/28/11 - 5/19/11 3 head, 2 chest scans - clear(fingers crossed) HPV-, No smoke, drink, or drugs, Vegan
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