Hi there. Am new, so patience please.

Family member with Oral cancer. First time was operated (in mouth), second time moved to neck, received radiation, third time neck dissection which just took place.

Now seizures have started - seven days later - can anyone shed light on this issue? I have found some information but am curious how common this is, if at all, what causes it and can it be prevented? Brain/Head scan done but looked fine.

Thanks and my thoughts are with you all.

This is really uncommon in anyone that has a clean scan. I can't remember in 8 years here, hearing about it from anyone that didn't have some metastasis of the disease to the cervical spine or brain. Please don't let that sentence freak you out, as they can happen for tons of reasons not related to a spread of the cancer.

I will be very interested to hear what the doctors have to say about this, we just don't see this often as a side effect of oral cancers that are confined to region areas, or from any of the normal treatment protocols.

How old is the patient and what type of seizures are they?

My mom suffered from siezures but hers were due to hyponotremia which is low sodium. At the time she was told it was brought on by the chemo and radiation. Her case was very rare, but i wanted to share.

Light House,

Don't know if this info helps, my sister suffered from seizure like symptoms, but it was a few months after her radical neck dissection. She began having ear pain again and we thought it was perhaps the nerves regenerating after the surgery. She would have extremely painful ear pain and then have a seizure, some of the doctors who witnessed it determined it was a syncope....she was unconscious, but didn't have the shaking and swallowing of tongue danger. At the time we did not realize the cancer was back and causing the ear pain leading to the syncope/seizure. Giving her morphine to control the pain, so it wouldn't reach level 10, helped to control the syncope.

Hope this is not the case with your family member, as a week out of surgery is not the same as months out of surgery.

Wishing you the best,

Nancy

Thanks all. My apologies for the delay in responding. Nothing has happened since like this, just a stroke which they said was a stroke, then not a stroke and now no definite answer. Then we had a blood infection and then no infection... and no clear answers on what the surgery found or how it went and then waiting two weeks to find out three nodes removed were also infected and issues with the mass being close to carotid artery... oh boy, this is hard. Definite mental issues seem to have started... pulling out tubes, then cutting them with scissors on another day, trying to eat things when not meant to eat anything, fighting with nurses and now dealing with trying to leave the hospital. Yet the drs and nurses aren't concerned - are you kidding me? A 76 y/o who clearly can't look after herself. So frustrating yet the professional folk state if she is of sane mind they can't stop her. And how does putting hospital equipment into your bag to leave add up to a sane mind, never mind everything else that has happened? Something else has to be going on, yet it seems they are blind to this. How can one make others see issues when they clearly exist and get help? Its a struggle for sure.

Thanks... just venting!

Dear Light House,

Sorry you and your family are having to go through this. My Mom has had three different oral surgeries - they removed the whole roof of her mouth last time. Last week they found out she has "a little cancer" in a lymph node on her neck and is scheduled for surgery on 3/31 and they say she will need radiation after that. She is the same age as your mother so I can really empathize with you. It is hard to understand why the drs. can't see what you are seeing. Take care and hang in there. I'll be thinking of you. Nancy T.