My mom was diagnosed with SCC in August and had re-constructive surgery on September 17th to remove the mandible on the lower right side and replace it with a bone in the left leg. Lymph nodes were also removed however I still haven't had the courage to ask my mom or sister the results of the nodes. She spent 8 days in the hospital. She is now in her 3rd week of 6 planned weeks of radiation. 3 chemo sessions were also planned but after her first, she doesn't plan on having anymore because it had too many side effects. She is eating some foods but primarily eating through her PEG tube.

What upsets me most about the entire process is that it took so long to identify her problem as being cancer. I think it was last April that she knew there was something abnormal going on in her mouth. She went to about 4 different dentists and they each said something like "We need to remove one of the teeth and insert medicine under there." Basically none of the dentists had a clue until the 5th one she went to who finally referred her to an oral surgeon who removed the growth and had it sent to the lab. That's when we found out and after he had removed it grew back to be so much bigger.

I guess I'm here to get some feedback from others who have had a similar surgery performed on them or someone they know. I haven't seen my mom in the last week but she now says that the radiation is giving her some blistering on her tongue. What else can she expect as she continues with the radiation?

-Nick

Nick- Your mom's situation is quite similar to many people on this board. So many were told that it was a blocked salivery glad or a virus or something like that when it was indeed cancer. My husband was misdiagnosed by three different doctors for over a year. He has been through radiation and four different chemos and the cancer is back and still spreading. He is currently on chemo with the hope of buying him somemore time. If only these doctors/dentists would send people to oral surgeons earlier there may be more early diagnosis.

Your mom's surgery sounds like what my husband had. He also had about 1/3 of his tongue removed. During the radiation he had the mouth sores also. Most people do. He was also extremely tired and had some nausea but was given medication for that. Make sure your mom has been told how many calories she needs right now. She may have to start wrting everything down to be sure she is getting enough fluids also. She may also experience peeling of the neck and surrounding area. They will give her cream for that and some mouthwash for her mouth. Very important that she report the symptoms to her doctor or nurse so they can help her alleviate them. Good luck.

Sue

Nick,

You didn't say but I assume her chemo was Cisplatin. I also had 3 "large" doses of Cis with nasty side effects but now the current trend is to break it up into smaller weekly doses which most people seem to handle. Have her check into this because she NEEDS the chemo.

Nick,

I agree with David. The Chemo and the radiation work together. I had Cisplatin once a week (small dose) for the 5 weeks of my radiation. The cisplatin helps enhance the radiation. I did have some side effects from the Cisplatin, mouth sores, nausea, etc. However, I was given medications to help with the side effects. Magic mouth wash, nausea medicine,etc. The medicines did help get me through treatment.

thanks for the feedback and I'll definately look into the kind of chemo and dose she is receiving.

Nick, I think a heck of a lot of us had a problem trying to get someone to see what was going on in our mouths. I got lucky and was scheduled for a scope of my esophagus and asked the Dr to check out my mouth and throat.. Great guy and he had an appt made for me before I woke up. Chemo 1 time a week and rads 5. I had Erbitux.