thanks christine!

we found out that he will be having both chemo and radiation at the same time starting two weeks from now (at first we thought it would be radiation then chemo).
has anyone had this kind of treatment or is this the best path to take? I heard it is very aggressive but works well.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that things go well, any advice any of you have on this kind of treatment is much appreciated.

I had rads and chemo combined then had to have my teeth removed for radiation seed implants a week after the removal. It is no fun and maybe it wasn't necessary. The rads and chemo were a pain but the rest I have doubts about. Good luck and I hope this works well for you.

Most OC patients have concurrent chemo and radiation as the chemo is supposed to weaken the cells making them more receptive to the killing power of the radiation. I was told the concurrent chemo would increase the rads kill rate by 20 to 30%.

What type of chemo are they using?

thanks jim and david.
what are radiation seed implants?
i have no idea what type of chemo they are using- as soon as i learn i will post here- i get limited info.
he already has his teeth/jaw on the one side of his mouth removed... would they remove the other half also? he went for his mask today...

The only reason teeth would be normally be removed is if they were already in poor condition. If his remaining teeth are in good shape, he might want to see a dentist to get floride trays made. I dont know if that is a possibility for him since he very recently had such major jaw surgery.

Best of luck to your FIL with his upcoming treatments.

He's going to begin chemo (Cisplatin) beginning January 4th. He'll receive 7-8 weeks of treatments once a week and he'll be having radiation 5x week during the chemo treatments.
christine, what is cisplatin like, i see you had the same thing?
is this a normal duration of chemo/radiation? thanks

A side effect of cisplatin is hearing loss. I was not affected by this. Having the weekly chemo treatments make it easier to tolerate as it is given in a lower dose. I was scheduled to have 3 large doses, the third dose was cancelled due to my reaction to it. I was very ill. Davidcpa can explain cisplatin much better since he had his hearing affected. What your FIL will be getting is what most patients now get.

great thanks- i have been talking to davidcpa about similar issues too- you guys are the best resources!!!!

I had Cis the older way which was 3 larger bags during radiation. We have recently seen more members say they got it in 6 weekly doses. The only "study" if you want to call it that since the 2 pools were not very similar, didn't conclude there was a benefit favoring one delivery method over the other. That said it does appear that the ones getting it in smaller weekly doses seem to fare better in the side effect arena. I don't remember many complaining about the nausea and none complaining about hearing loss. I did talk to my docs at Moffitt and they still favor the 3 dose method.

Re the hearing loss, if he experiences any "ringing" or a buzz in his ears then he needs to inform his MO immediately as that is the damage occurring. Not all of us (like everything else) seem inclined to get the damage but the ones, like me, that do have damage it is permanent and most always affects the higher frequencies. Of all my side effects it's probably near the bottom of my dislike list but certainly if it can be avoided it's better.

Nausea is another common side effect of Cisplatin. There are many different anti nausea meds out there. Some that provide instant or breakthrough relief and some intended to work in the background for longer lasting relief. Again what works for some doesn't mean it works for all and vice verse. I was one of the lucky ones that nothing seemed to work for me. I will also say that I didn't have the benefit of this site's wisdom during my Tx so maybe I gave up on some meds prematurely? I was such a stubborn pigheaded scared idiot during my Tx.

My teeth were in good shape until the PC started to play with them, I was having teeth break off , fillings fall out, andwhole teeth were falling out of my mouth. I was one that went to my Dentist no less than 3 times a year pr every 3 months. He could,t bekieve how bad things got in my mouth. In implant is Radiation radiation seed implants that they insert into your tongue from beneath your chin. This is very miserable and I at times wonder about this decision from the Drs.