Hello. im a new member. im here because my father (75) was recently diagnosed with oral cancer. im looking for inspiration and alternative treatments, because...where he stands now, he is considering passing on treatments altogether. i want to show him that there are options.

Welcome wcl72871!

Glad you found the OCF forums! Sorry you had to

I moved your original post so that you're specific questions can be focused on!

First let's get to know a bit more about your Dad! What's his specific diagnosis? Where's he being Treated? What treatment options has he been presented with? Let's start there and move forward!

Eric

Welcome to the forum. All I can give by way of advice is that there are a lot of people making tons of money claiming to have a cure for cancer, so be very careful. Best to follow the professionals' advice and at 75, being otherwise in decent health, he can have many cancer free years ahead. My mother, 87 years old, is a 20 year survivor of breast cancer. Please encourage him to do what it takes. It' awfully tough but life is worth it.

Welcome to OCF! Im sorry your father has been diagnosed with oral cancer. Its a terrible disease! I have had it 3 times and Im lucky enough to have gotten thru it. I know its not easy to go thru treatments but it can be done. We have had many older members who have successfully battled oral cancer and gone on to live full and decent lives.

I do not want to scare you but will be honest and give you some info about oral cancer. If untreated, oral cancer is especially harsh to patients. People who do not get treated go thru alot of pain and suffering. I almost didnt go thru with treatment the 3rd time I was diagnosed with oral cancer. I weighed my options but forced myself to at least give it a try. Better to try and fail than not to try at all. My family needed me so I did it for them.

Please let your father know we will help him thru whatever he chooses to do. Its his choice. I do hope he will reconsider and give treatments a try so he can continue with his life. The only things that will cure oral cancer are either surgery or radiation with or without chemo. There are other treatments available but they have not been scientifically proven to be successful.

There is alot of scary info about oral cancer on the internet. Im glad you found OCF so you can give your father factual information. Try reading the main pages, there are many pages of useful information there.

Best wishes with whichever path is chosen.

Hi guys. I�m sorry it took me so long to get back to the site. my father had previously battled throat cancer, in which he lost his voice box and was left with a stoma. he actually bounced back from that very well. it was in 93. he also has bladder cancer. that is being treated ongoing with radioactive pellets in his bladder. the newest issue is his tongue. he had been having trouble swallowing for almost a year. he went in 2 or 3 times a month, but nothing was ever discovered. they thought it might be arthritis growing into his tongue from a vertebrae. finally, a doctor literally put his finger down my father�s throat and felt a mass. they did a biopsy and discovered it was a cancerous growth. when he was initially diagnosed and had heard that he would lose his whole tongue and would also have to have a permanent feeding tube, he was going to pass on the treatment and let nature take its course. However, he decided he wasn�t really ready to give up, so he elected to have the Full Glossectomy. His main concern is the mucus buildup in his mouth. Since he will no longer be able to swallow, he is concerned about how that is dealt with. He seems to be in good spirits. He will be having the procedure done at the VA hospital in Pittsburgh, and hopes to become a full time volunteer there once he is back on his feet. I can tell, though, that the closer we get to the operation date, he is becoming more fearful and unsure.
The operation is actually tomorrow, April 3, 2012. We shall see how it goes.

Some members use a suction machine when they have excess mucous. Check with your fathers doc to see if this is something he can rent from a medical supply company.

Best wishes with tomorrow's surgery! Hope everything goes well and your father recovers quickly.

Wow, W.C., your Dad sure has been through a lot - I guess when he said at first he wasn't going through this latest deal, he was just fed up with everything. I'm so proud that he re-considered because he fought so hard for so long, and it would be a shame to give up now. It will a whole new dimension in his life, but he will be alive, and that is what counts. He sure is a brave man and deserves a BIG hug from another OCF member, so give him one from me (((HUG)))
julieann

Hi ! God bless your dad and his spunk! It will be a ough surgery but he'll get through it! There are a couple of glossectomy people here misskate is one and she's doing well. Tell your dad to hang in there. Good luck!

Hi.
My Kris had a total glossectomy and laryngectomy 4 weeks ago.
He has just started swallowing fluids this week. This is going very well. Sure he has to tilt his head back a bit, but the fluid is going down and the swallow improves each day. I'm very proud of him.
Your Dad too will learn to swallow his secretions and to enjoy fluids and hopefully food eventually too.
All my positive thoughts are with you and your family. Your Dad will be ok.
Tammy

Just checking in to see how things went today. Thinking of you and your father.