yup new guy so be nice lol....
Got cancer about 3 years ago .Was being put in hospice when i was givin' a option. I could either go to hospice and well or i could let them try something experimental and they would kill me or i would be cancer free, well givin the choice i told em im in ... went through treatments 5 days a week over a hour each day in the radiation room by the end of my sessions i was at 95 zaps a day @ 15 to 20 seconds a zap enough to burn a hole through you .. chemo 3 times a week 3 bags of it each time, time spent in chemo 5 hours and yes radiation on those days also ....
still going through the dry mouth, radiation shots every now and again, thick snot, bad throat flap, those i guess are permanent part of playing the game .....

so end result im cancer free for now, they say it will come back eventually but im ok with that i got more time to play ... Now comes the after affects of all that radiation. the radiation poisoning came 3 to 4 months after the last treatment wiped me out for a month, so ok i made it through that, made it through the broken throat flap still a issue but i can deal with it ... now the bones in my jaw are going and the teeth are all dead from the radiation.. came here looking to find out more about what the hell there going to do to me what its going to take and well everything involved with jaw replacement surgery..... i have a cadaver bone replacement in my leg so that i get, but its a hell of a lot different my whole jaw ....
never came to forums posting looking for anything medical but figured what the hell everyone else heres either gone through it or are going through it so who better ..
thanks,
Mike..

p.s. best 2 things i have found for my dry mouth .... the magic juice... baking soda/ salt / iodine, mouthwash -- and believe it or not Altoids or anything strong peppermint. it makes your mouth water from any gland left that works ....

Welcome to OCF, Mike! You said to be nice.... were ALWAYS nice around here!!! LOL . You're among friends who have been thru this ourselves or been a caregiver to a loved one going thru it. We understand everything you have been thru and are facing. Now that you have discovered our online family, dont be a stranger. Read both here and on the main OCF site to learn more about OC and complications of those brutal treatments we have been thru.

Ive had half of my lower jaw removed and lost all of my teeth to radiation damage. Its a long, in depth surgery (usually 10 hours) that can have a long recovery for some patients. Have your doctors discussed hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBO)? Its called the Marx Protocol developed by Dr Marx of FL (still actively practicing from what Ive heard). Its 20 treatments prior to and 10 after removing a tooth or piece of a jaw after the patient has had rads. This is done to avoid far bigger problems down the road called osteoradionecrosis (death of the jaw bone). For mandibulectomies (jaw removal surgery) this should be done as well, at least thats what Ive had done. Its very easy to do HBO but is is time consuming which makes me really dislike being held captive in a glass cylinder while breathing pressurized oxygen for an hour or so.

As with any major surgery I always recommend getting a second opinion.... especially in complex cases like yours. You definitely should have at least one other very experienced doc review your history and see what they suggest. If possible try your best to get your second (or third, forth) opinion at one of the countries top comprehensive cancer centers (CCCs) where the top surgeons and physicians are the most experienced with complicated cases. I have been down the osteoradionecrosis road and know how painful it can be. I also know it wont heal on its own and delaying taking care of it only makes it get progressively worse and more painful. I had a close friend here who put it off a few years and he suffered greatly with intense pain 24/7. Im not trying to make you worry by telling you this, I dont want to see anyone else go thru what he did.

Wishing you all the very best with everything!!!!

You can handle peppermint? Wow! That still burns me like crazy!

And way to go for making it through all that you've been through! That fighter spirit will take you a LONG way!

((hugs))

Haha Kristen I was thinking the same thing! Mint burns the heck out of my mouth but then again I'm pretty fresh out of treatment.

Your fighter spirit is definitely admirable and it's so refreshing to hear that your tenacity and saying yes to the experimental treatment caused your remission!

Good luck on your upcoming surgery. It sounds like it will be involved but I find solace in the whole cancer process from the level of care that the medical community gives. A big part of that obviously is making sure that your happy with who will be doing your surgery, so definitely make sure you have confidence in your oncologist.