My cancer was in my right tonsil and spread to node and soft tissue, stage IV. All was surgically removed with f/u radiation treatment....

Does anyone know what would be the signs of recurrence?

Thank you,

Dan

The symptoms would be the same ones you experienced the first time. Pain in the ear, a sore throat, a sore that hasnt healed in more than 2 weeks are all symptoms of a possible cancer diagnosis. Best thing to do is give your ENT a call and get checked out. How long ago did you finish treatments?

I do not know what to say here.

When my dad had his recurrence, though the right neck nodal neck mass was not very apparent from outside; he used to have ear pain, tingling sensation or numbness in Pinna (Outer ear) and neck pain. He says the occassional ear pain and the sensation was simlar to what he had previous occurence (left tongue and nodes) and that is what gave him doubt about recurrence.

I was thinking about your question and need to give you more info. During my last recurrence, I had not one symptom. I had never felt better. I went for a 25 mile bike ride and the next day my biopsy results came back and I am told I have Stage IV cancer. So its really pretty hard to tell. Only a doctor will be able to tell thru a biopsy.

[quote=ChristineB]I was thinking about your question and need to give you more info. During my last recurrence, I had not one symptom. I had never felt better. I went for a 25 mile bike ride and the next day my biopsy results came back and I am told I have Stage IV cancer. So its really pretty hard to tell. Only a doctor will be able to tell thru a biopsy. [/quote]Biopsy of what? .....What were the symptoms that caused him to do a biopsy to have him tell you that you had a stage IV recurrence....I am reading you right?

To answer your question my treatment ended August 2004.

I had a sore in my jawline that I didnt feel, it was biopsied and turned out to be cancerous. The cancer was also in my jawbone.

Christine, did you doctor detect the sore? Or was it through regular CT/MRI?

My doctor saw it and asked if I wanted to try antibiotics to heal it or if I wanted a biopsy now or with anesthesia in a few days. I told him just go ahead and take a biopsy, no anesthesia. To me the shot hurts as much as what he was going to do anyway. Then I followed that up with a CT and also an MRI. I felt great, no pain, nothing wrong at all. I was shocked when my doc told me I was Stage IV. This was the 3rd time I had OC within 3 years. This example is why oral cancer is so deadly, people many times have no symptoms until the disease has progressed to the later stages where its difficult to treat.