My dad was diagnosed with oral cancer in Sept. On October 29th he had surgery and removed the tumor and some lymph nodes. He went to the ENT on March 7th and was told that the cancer has returned. It is now on both sides of his mouth and the glands. I went to the onc. with him on Wednesday and he suggested radiation and chemo treatments for 6-7 weeks. You are given so much info. in such a short period of time that it 's very overwelming. We were not told what stage the cancer is in only that it look poor. What does that mean? He has lost so much weight. He is 5'8 ,126lbs. Once the treatments start how bad is it going to get for him . He is also having very bad headaches. Is this a very fast growing cancer? I will go with him Monday to meet with the radiation doctor what questions should I be asking. Please help!

Staging is very important to know and also what type of cancer. What stage and what type was the original cancer? Speaking from personal experience, I dropped 35 lbs from radiation and chemo. If he is already that underweight he should get a PEG tube. The doctors will probably insist on it. Typically they give radiation and chemo even when you have had the surgery. There is always hope...

I am sorry to hear about your father's recurrence, but do not think the worst. Radiation and chemo are tough, but very doable. It is unfortunate that whomever the original treating doctor was, obviously a surgeon, he didn't involve a radiation oncologist at the same time while developing his treatment plan. I hear this every week. I wish that someone would force every surgically oriented ENT in the US to require a radiation oncology consult prior to developing a treatment plan. In all likelihood given the short time period since the surgery, the surgery did not eliminate all of the cancer at that time. This happens far too often, and it wastes valuable time while a cancer continues to prosper. Unless a patient has a carcinoma in situ (very early disease) or a very early stage one, standard treatment usually involves both surgery and radiation. There is a news article on the main body of the web site which states that studies reveal (once again), that these two together are the standard protocol for head and neck cancers, and have the highest rates of remission. When you accompany your father, take a notebook and make lots of notes about what is discussed etc. In the stress of it all, each person hears something different, and you want to know everything as well as remember it clearly the next day. As to specific questions regarding the treatments, how many there will be etc. he should be able to talk to you about the stage of the cancer, how long the treatments will last, and the types of complications your father can expect to have during and after treatment. Don