Radiation or wait and hope? difficult decision - 05-02-2012 06:23 AM
My wife had gum cancer and they removed it and the pathology report was pretty good. They said it was a close call and we could just wait and monitor or do a neck dissection to be safe. He recommended the neck dissection. We agreed and went with "be safe" approach.
The neck dissection went well. There were nine lymph nodes taken. Of those 8 were fine and one had a small (.5 cm) invasion that was encapsulated (so h1n1m0 I think). The doctor said he was pretty sure all the cancer was out, but we could do radiation as an added precaution. He noted we would only be doing it down on the neck so there would be less side effects. Still, he said he felt it was all out and recommended NOT doing radiation and just monitoring closely.
What a decision. You hate to be wrong either way. I think the most difficult part is we don't really understand it well enough to estimate the risks, side effects, etc.
Anyone who can share some advice or experience in this area appreciated.
The neck dissection went well. There were nine lymph nodes taken. Of those 8 were fine and one had a small (.5 cm) invasion that was encapsulated (so h1n1m0 I think). The doctor said he was pretty sure all the cancer was out, but we could do radiation as an added precaution. He noted we would only be doing it down on the neck so there would be less side effects. Still, he said he felt it was all out and recommended NOT doing radiation and just monitoring closely.
What a decision. You hate to be wrong either way. I think the most difficult part is we don't really understand it well enough to estimate the risks, side effects, etc.
Anyone who can share some advice or experience in this area appreciated.