I to am new to the site. My husband was diagnosied with SCC of one cervical lymph node with primary unknown. PET scan only showed one lymph node, had radical neck disection done in nov 2011 (42 nodes only 1 positie for maligancy). Went thru6wks chemo (Erbitux) and 8wks radiation. Completed treatment the first part of March 2012. Now he is having bone fragments coming up thu the gumline in his mouth. His dentist wouldn't touch it and sent him to oral surgeon. The oral surgeon said his jaw bone was probably dying due to lack of blood supply due to loss of blood supply from high level of radiatio treatment. The oral surgeo also said that he would remove bone fragments as they come thru the gumline but there wasn't anything else that can be done. I CAN HARDLY BELEIVE THIS, but don;t know where to turn. My husbandsays he should of just lived his life to fullest and not did the treatments if this is what he has to look forward to. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP GUIDE US WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!

Welcome to OCF, Deb. I am so sorry to hear about what your husband is going thru! I know how painful those bone shard can be. Ive gone thru that too and it was agony! Please reassure your husband it will get easier! It takes lots of time, up to 2 years to fully recover. Im sure he is already feeling better than he was when he first finished.

I would suggest getting him to another doctor. The tone of this one doesnt sound like its the best place for someone struggling to recover. Your husband could need a mandibulectomy which means removing part of his jaw. An ENT who is experienced with oral cancer patients can help you with this. If he wasnt treated at a cancer center I would suggest to take him to one. Did your husband have any teeth removed? This does not sound like something most of us who only had rads w/ chemo have gone thru so soon after finishing.

To help your husband;s recovery, keep pushing the nutrition with getting a minimum of 2500 calories and 48 oz of water daily. He also needs higher protein right now to help rebuild his body. I know 2500 calories sounds like its alot but after what he has been thru his body is in 'fight mode' and is burning calories like crazy just trying to recover. Ive used a high protein whey powder added to my liquid nutrition, it can easily be added to milk or juice as well. There are also high protein shots available to drink which have 35 calories per 2.9 oz called poasis. I didnt care for the taste so put them in my feeding tube. Carnation Very High Calorie can be ordered thru the green Amazon link on the main forum pages. This has 560 calories per can. If using it ith a feeding tube, its pretty thick so add a can of water.

Best wishes!

Hi Deb. I completely sympathise with your husband. I know that for a while after I finished my tx, I often thought that if this comes back I'm NOT going through that again, and I didn't even face as tough a battle as your husband. But now that I'm 4 years out and life has settled into the "new normal", I know that it was worth it and I would face it again if I had to.


there is a light at the end of the tunnel.