My name is Deitra Cooper. I am a 41 yr old married (19 yrs) mother of 3, David 22...Brandon 17...Ashley 15. I was diagnosed with Oropharyngeal Cancer on 7/14/10. This has all been dropped in on me in a matter of 3 weeks. I'm terrified !! I am trying to find out anything and everything that I can about this. My treatments start Aug 9, 2010 and will be Chemo and radiation every Monday and the other 4 days will be radiation. I will do this for 8 to 10 weeks. If anyone has any advice for me please feel free to give it ....I am new to this and I have no idea what to do next.

So glad you're here, Deitra. You will find a tremendous amount of support and information from people who've had similar experiences to yours. Cancer is a scary thing to have to face but the more you find out about it, the better prepared you will be to get going on surviving this. I've been a caregiver to my son who is a survivor and his experience is dfferent from yours, but there are lots of compassionate and knowledgeable people here ready to answer whatever questions you have and I'm sure you will be hearing from them soon. The main page at http://oralcancerfoundation.org/ has specific information on diagnosis and treatment and is a tremendous help in being able to ask questions and get the answers you need. Please keep us posted and let us know how you are doing.

Deitra,

Sorry about the Dx but this site will prove invaluable during your Tx and recovery.

Where is your primary?

Were you a tobacco user?

Where are you being treated?

Hello Deitra and welcome to OCF. Im so glad you have found this site to help you and your family get thru this. Im sure you all are terrified of what is coming up. Its not an easy road but in a few months you will be cancer free. Im a single mother and my children were 17 and 15 when I was first diagnosed. While they werent babies, they still needed me. Im glad you have a child who is older and also a husband to be your caregiver.

My advice would be to eat everything you crave right now. Do not worry about weight gain or calories. In fact calories are now your best friend with trying to get as many as you can daily. Once treatment starts, you should get minimum 2500 daily with at least 48oz water. So for right now, concentrate on eating everything you every dreamed of and then have seconds Your taste and saliva function will change while going thru radiation and things wont taste good and will be hard to eat.

Start lining up helpers too. Anyone who approaches you and offers help write their name and number down in a book and tell them they can help later while you are being treated. Even if its to drive you one day for treatment or pick up a pizza for the kids, its a big help. After a couple weeks you may not be able to drive yourself. Im hoping you are being treated at a cancer center. This way all the docs get together and discuss your treatment and progress. Everyone is on the same page and is more familiar with your type of cancer than a small facility.

There is so much info on the forum and also on the main pages. Make use of a search function in both places. Also please add a signature when you have time. It helps us to get to know you more quickly. Under the My Stuff tab its the profile section. All the way on the bottom, type in the white box what you would like your signature to be. It doesnt have to be anything technical, it can be anything you want that you feel is relevant.

A port to give you chemo and a feeding tube may be things you will get. Have your doctors discussed this with you?

Also here is a couple links that all patients can use. One is a booklet that was made by OCF members and the other is a list of easy foods for later if you have trouble eating. Please feel free to post questions here. There are alot of members who are able to give yo a wide variety of answers depending upon their experiences. Everyone here is slightly different with their cancer location, treatments, side effects and after effects. Best of luck with your upcoming treatments.

http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/board_images/GTI_draft.pdf

http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=94621#Post94621

Deitra, welcome to the family. Sorry you're here, but this is a great place to be if you're in need, which you are. Christine has summed things up beautifully.

Keep us informed, ask any questions you can think of, and above all courage! We're all with you and will help you get through this.

David 2

Hi Deitra,
You're about a month behind me, as I was diagnosed in June and started my radiation treatments two weeks ago, and have had two chemo infusions with cisplatin. So far, there have been no major problems--I'm finding the best way to stay ahead of the nausea is to drink, drink, drink, and then drink some more.You will find this forum a godsend;often I could shoot off a fear and then get some concrete info that helped me to react more rationally. I'm all for support groups and this forum is really doing the trick for me. You'll get lots of encouragement here. Doing it with you!

Welcome Deitra!

I think others have donw a good job summing it up. Eat, eat and eat! Stay hydrated, do your mouth washes, and ask for pain meds if needed. Everybodys experience is different...hope yours is an easy breeze!

Roland - If you go to OCF's main page and use the search function (top right) for Oropharangeal Cancer, you will see all the latest research and info on this type of cancer.

Anne-Marie, If you look at Roland's post at the top of this thread it was almost 5 months ago, he posted one time, and never came back. We just never know sometimes what happens to people, in spite of offering them emotional comfort or advice on other things.....

That's so true, Brian - I don't see his post that I replied to, but it was a little confusing as to what he had in mind. When I went to the link he provided, it seemed to be a site where would-be authors submitted their work. That's why I suggested the OCF link to provide him with the latest info. I also checked his profile which noted he was a writer.