Hi All,

I've only posted here a few times. Not sure where I left off here, but basically my mom had been given a death sentence by her doctors. She had a 2nd recurrence of her SCC and it was now in her bloodstream. This was after 6 weeks of radiation w/ 3 chemo treatments in that period. Her doctors had basically given up.

Well my family decided that this was just not acceptable and we wanted to continue the fight. We moved her treatment to the Cancer Center of America in Philadelphia and they began a treatment of Erbitux and Taxol. After 3 months of treatments, we had a PET scan yesterday and heard the word "Remission" for the first time in a year! Her doctor was amazed. They showed us her PET scan and it was like night and day...no spots anywhere!

I wasn't sure if this was more fitting in the Survivor section or the Recurrence section. I think since we are in disbelief still, I'm not quite ready to label it a survival story, but it's certainly amazing news! We've opted to continue with the Taxol and Erbitux treatments for another month or two since she has few side effects and then re-evaluate at that time just to make sure we've beaten the SCC into submission.

I hope this story helps anyone who feels like their situation is helpless. I had completely given up hope and I even moved home to spend more time with my Mom because I didn't know how much time she had left. I think one thing that really helped was this hospital concentrated on her nutrition and boosting her immune system, which I feel was overlooked before. I can't stress enough how important getting that under control has been in our fight with cancer (in my non-medical opinion).

Well I've rambled on a bit but please, do not give up your fight just because of recurrences. Happy Holidays to everyone and good luck with your respective fights.

What a winderful christmas present for you, your family and all of us here reading your story.

Kelly

Josh,

What a pleasant surprise to see your post tonight. I remember your first couple posts were right as I was going to go thru surgery for my 3rd round of OC. Your mom was in bad shape and you were so worried.

Its so nice to see a happy positive outcome from going to the cancer center. What a wonderful turn around your mom has made. Thanks for writing an update. Enjoy the holidays, you and your family have reason to celebrate!!!!!

Best wishes to your mom for good health in the future.

Jal: That is AWESOME news. Every story like this where someone is winning is a "Survivor" story. Such a great Christmas gift!! Best wishes to your Mother, you and your family. As you mentioned and I adopted as my "Mantra" throughout my journey, "Never, Ever Give Up!" Steve

GREAT NEWS!! an inspiration to all! have a very Merry Christmas! i know u and ur family will!

Jal,

If you would include her DX and Tx history in your Signature Line like mine for example, your posts will mean so much more.

That is fantastic news to say the least.

Thank you all. This forum has definitely been a great source of support and I do hope this story helps others stay motivated. I know reading success stories on here really helped me. Now we are going to concentrate on getting her back to eating without the peg tube which I think will really be a big boost for her. Right now she's able to eat yogurt (and other foods of that consistency)

Christine B- Thanks so much. I remember you responding to my original post as well. I hope everything went okay with your latest surgery.

DavidCPA- I will definitely try to provide the specifics of her treatments and diagnosis, but will probably have to look up what exactly it was so I can add it in.


For now (for anyone reading this thread), my mom was diagnosed with SCC on BOT (10/2008). She had a partial glossectomy and a partial neck disection on the right side to remove some of the lymph nodes (11/2008).
A couple months later we noticed some swelling, turns out the SCC was in her lymph nodes (Stage IV). After another neck disection, she went through 6 weeks of radiation therapy 5 times per week (with one chemo treatment at the beginning, middle, and end).
After only a month, we noticed a pimple-like bump on her face. Biopsy revealed the SCC was still there, and now in her bloodstream. Her doctors said remission was impossible, and said we could treat it but may not be worth the side effects.
Swicthed treatment to Cancer Center of America in Philadelphia and started 3 months of Erbitux and Taxol treatments. 3 weeks of both, one week of just the Erbitux each month. PET scan shows no signs of cancer and we've opted to continue the treatments for another 2 months to be safe (since side effects have been minimal).

I will try to get more specifics around the diagnosis (ie staging)and treatments but thought this would help for now.

Kelly/Steve/HomersHoney- Thank you all for the kind words.

Good luck to everyone and Happy Holidays!

JAL,

To add to your signature go to the top of the screen and click on MY PROFILE. Then click on EDIT PROFILE and scroll down to the Signature Block and type away. Once you add it, It appears every post you make and your questions and even responses are more understandable.

Wow ..that's such wonderful news ..I'm trying to get Erbitux for my Mum , have not heard of Taxol.. thank you so much for sharing that!

Jal, thanks for this post. It shows me that nothing is impossible and to never give up hope. I'm so happy for you, your mum and your family. What a fantastic way to start a new year.

Wendy