My mom is recently diagnosed - 02-16-2007 11:52 AM
Hello everyone...my mom has recently been diagnosed with oral cancer with the primary tumor on the tongue. She has an inflammatory skin disease called lichen planus on her tongue (for the last 10 years or so) and was a former smoker (quit 8 years ago). In September/October she noticed a lump on her tongue in addition to the lichen planus...fast forward to late December and the tumor is cancer. They schedule surgery but they don't think it is in the lymph nodes. She has the surgery...they remove the tumor, lymph nodes, and salivary glands. The lymph nodes come back positive and now she is getting ready for combination radiation and chemo treatment (I think this is stage 4). My mom is 59 years old. She lives in Seattle and her doctors are at University of Washington. My sister and I live in Virginia but we are planning to come out to help her. I don't know why I am inlcuding this much info...I guess I feel the need to share among people who understand. But also I want to know what the best things we can do for her when we come out during her treatment. Does that make sense? Sorry for rambling.