Hey, ive been reading this board for a while and decided to sign up, i am a 17yr old girl and on 17th novemeber 2010,i was diagnoses with MEC low grade i think, it was in my right gum cheek, i had one operation on 18th december 2010, had a muscle repair in my cheek too, and on feb 1st 2011 had to have another op and some of my jaw removed, and this operation was sucessfull,its healing great now and feels fine, although had a little problem with mouth opening but its getting better, the weird thing is people on this board seem to have a lot of information about what they had and specfic things, but because of my age my i think my surgeon wasnt very, upfront with me, i had to ask him what grade it was because he didnt tell me, do you thin i should get some more info on what i had and stuff, thanks in advance

Im sorry you are a cancer patient at your young age!!! You should be treated at a cancer center. Im sure your parents are taking you to your appointments and pretty much calling the shots since you are under 18. Does your doctor talk openly with your parents? It is not unusual for patients to be informed, it is unusual for them not to be! What type of doctor is treating you? You should have a whole team of doctors not just one or two. Have you seen a medical oncologist? The questions Im asking you are relevant to your treatment. If you are being seen at a cancer center you would have met with a team of doctors each with their own specialties. As a patient I feel it is very important to know what is going on and why the doctors order different tests. If you have a question, you need to ask and the doctor whould be answering you regardless of your age.

Please add a signature line when you have time. Its under the "my stuff' tab, then profile. Type in the box on the bottom. It helps us to respond to your questions.

Best of luck with your continued recovery.

Gemma, I add my welcome and sorry to see you here... but you've come to the right place for information and support. Christine has summed things up perfectly. Please keep us informed and keep your spirits up! We're here to help.

David 2

HI and welcome, and I really wish you didn`t have to be here. Christine is right, being uninformed is unusual. I know you are under 18, and it is likely your parents are the ones with the information, but you should talk to them.

best of luck with everything, and glad you are healing well. take care.

Hi Gemma, I wouldn't get too hung up about the detail that other people know. If you feel you want to know more, then please just tell your surgeon that you you want to know more and don't let the "I'm incredibly busy" act put you off. Were you assigned a specialist nurse as a point of contact? If so he or she may be a good person to tell that you want to know more. You may need to interpret some of the comments made by our american friends where the medical system works differently to ours.
Good luck