Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Catherine, my husband, Tim was, until March of this year, a long term survivor of throat cancer (on the tonsil). Back in 1999, Tim underwent a grueling 14 week protocol of chemo and radiation. All was clear for such a long time, then, the thing we all dread happened, the cancer came back. This time he underwent a radical neck dissection and reconstructive surgery. The surgeon was confident the surgery was successful, all margins were clear. He has a PEG tube and is really working to get the swallowing back. I guess my biggest concern is what's next? Tim is not a candidate for further radiation, we have seen 3 RO who all reached the same conclusion. Therefore, we are in a wait and see mode. Anyhow, I just thought it would be a good idea to join this group and see what other folks are doing in this situation, as well as with swallowing issues. Thanks all and Hello!

Catherine, sorry for Tim's recurrence. I too am in wait and see mode with the same procedure (no rad/chemo). So far so good. Unfortunately I have no advice to give other than to try not focus on the waiting part.

My swallowing came back entirely, albeit little bits at a time, and I still eat with a fork and knife with much smaller bites. I actually found it harder to eat pureed food at the beginning, so I went with very small bites, and worked up from there.

Good luck with everything!

Welcome to OCF, Catherine.

So sorry to hear about the return of cancer. There are many here who have recurrence of cancer so they'll add their words of wisdom. A few have had multiple rads so it can happen.

bye don

Welcome Catherine. Sorry to hear of your husbands return of cancer. I had 5 recurrences in three years, 4 of which were in the cervical neck, lymph nodes, resulting in a number of surgeries, radiation and chemo treatments. They do reiiridation more these days, with cyberknife, brachytherapy, intraoperative radiation therapy, and IMRT radiation, depending on the grays given before. For a recurrence, the first line of treating is surgery. I had that twice alone, and twice with radiation. Chemo was thrown in to make the rads work better.

Good luck

Catherine, welcome to OCF! Im so sorry to read about your husbands recurrence. After so many years, it may be a completely new cancer. If he isnt already being treated at a top cancer center you may want to consider future treatments at one. They will know the latest treatment protocols and have the countrys top doctors. We have had several members who have had radiation more than once, so dont ever rule that out. In fact we have a couple members who have had it 3 times. Plus there is always brachytherapy as well.

Best wishes for continued good health for your husband.

So so sorry to hear about the thing we all fear. I am going on 8 years post Tx and it bothers me to hear his story. I assume his cancer may have tested positive for HPV had they focused on that back then. I also assume he was subjected to the older more damaging type of radiation, XRT and 13 weeks is unheard of today. Do you know how many gys of radiation he received?

Tell him we are all rooting for him.

Thanks to all for the warm welcomes! I appreciate the encouraging words about the swallowing issues and seeking additional consultations about following up treatments. It's nice to have others to talk with who have had similar experiences. Thanks again.

Tina, where was your tumor located? Did you have reconstruction after your glossectomy?

Mine was on the back left side of my oral tongue. The tumor, when I had the surgery was about 4.5 cm (it grew very fast). I had a flap from my forearm at the same time as the glossectomy to reconstruct the tongue.