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#139618 09-09-2011 03:28 PM
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hello to all, about 3 weeks ago i saw and ent for my thyroid i thought anyway.after he put the scope through my nose he stared putting his fingers down my throat and tongue.
he said i had a lump on my tongue and it might be tongue base cancer.(i'm thinking in my head what) then he wanted me to get an altrasound.got it the next day. dr called back after 5 days and said he needed my old altrasound to look it over.also he said i had 1 nodule in a muscle and he would call me back in a day or two.

he did,t say anything about my tongue.so my wife and i decided to call unmc in omaha.we thought this is the best place around here for cancer and get a second opinion.
we were really pleased with unmc so we decided to go there.
they got me in this week and did another ultrasound with biospy.

my new dr said that he wasn;t real concern about my tongue because there wasn;t any mass on it.
he did scope me and said my right tonsils was red and generously large.and my thyroid had some nodules in them so he biopsy it.

and wants me to come back in two weeks to biospy my tonsils,tongue. and nogule in the muscle of my lymph nodes.

if anybody has experienced any or all of these things..i would enjoy hearing from you. as to what i can expect.from someone whos been there .. thanks.


having a direct laryngoscopy & biopsy and ct scan....9-18-11
dr might take my thyroid out.
mark rieper #139620 09-09-2011 03:41 PM
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Mark,
It' the biopsy that tells the tale. All other information is speculation (even if it's well informed speculation from a great doctor. I'm suprised that you are being asked to wait two weeks for results of the first biopsy. They can generaly get that result in 72 hours. feel free in calling your doctor after 72 hours on any of these biopsies. They may have a fast answer for you.


Kelly
Male
48, SCC (Soft Palet) Rt.,
Stage 1, T3n0m0,
Dx, 8-09, Start IMRT 35 9-2-09 end 10-21-09
04-20-10 NED
8-11 recurrence, node rt. neck N2b
10-11 33 IMRT w/chemo wkly
3-12-12 PET - residual cancer
4-12 5 treatments with Cyberknife & Erbitux
6-19-12 Pet scan CLEAR
12-3-12 PET - CLEAR
Kelly211 #139631 09-09-2011 04:58 PM
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Do not wait two weeks for an answer to a biopsy when you have these symptoms. This isn't the mark of a doctor or institution that has your best interests at heart. Tonsillar and base of tongue cancers are often connected to each other as they are both involved with lymphoid tissues. By this time you may develop a painless, fixated node on the side of your neck. But I am assuming that they did a through neck palpation on you. Also it's kind of surprising that they did an ultra sound instead of a CT scans that would have given them more information.

In these kinds of things (you will find this stated here often) you really have to be your own advocate, and press for things. It's your life, not theirs. Until you have a negative answer to cancer, this should be addressed with some sense of urgency.


Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
Brian Hill #139637 09-09-2011 06:41 PM
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Hi Mark, you have already lost over 2 weeks and you are willing to wait for another 2 weeks for biopsy. I agree with Brian and in my honest opinion, please get those biopsy reports quickly and progress with treatment as required.


Last edited by Eshwar N; 09-09-2011 07:30 PM. Reason: as adviced by moderators

Father; 67 yrs; RIP: 2012/05/26

TX:SCC pT2N1M0G2;Glossectomy+SND+CCRT(59.3Gy+6xCis.)[2009]
TX:Nodal Mets; 3xDCF[2011/05/05]
TX: RND + PMMC Flap[2011/07/11]
DX:SCC PNI+ECE
TX:Re-RT 60Gy[2011/09/21]
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Eshwar N #139642 09-09-2011 07:09 PM
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@ Thank you, Eshwar!!


Last edited by Sandy177; 09-09-2011 07:35 PM. Reason: issue resolved

Ex-spouse MISDIAGNOSED with SCC-HN IVa 12/10. Tonsils out 1/11. 4 teeth out 2/11. TX Erbitux x2, IMRT x2 2/11. 2nd opinion-benign BCC-NOT CANCER 3/11. TX stopped 3/11. New doctors 4/11. ENT agrees with 2nd opinion 5/11. ENT scoped him-all clear 7/11. Ordered MRI anyway. MRI 8/22/11 Result-all clear.
Sandy177 #139644 09-09-2011 07:23 PM
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Eshwar- I disagree with you on this. No one but the pathologist is going to put a "for sure" label on it. He is only going to do that when looking at a tissue sample under a microscope. ONLY in very advanced disease, could someone look at something and say yes that is cancer. (Then even my gardener could tell you its cancer.) Perhaps in your country there are lots of those very advanced cases finally getting to a doctor to be seen (Like you see pictures of on so many web sites from your country). Here in the US, even with late staging, the physical manifestations can be very ambiguous. Biopsy is the only means to know for sure. Please do not take this as any kind of slander to the medical situation in your country.


Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
Sandy177 #139645 09-09-2011 07:24 PM
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@ Mark: I agree with everyone here about the amount of time you should expect to wait before getting biopsy results.

I would like to add that a tonsil biopsy is often a diagnostic tonsillectomy. A primary tumor may be deep within the tonsil and not visible on the surface. Before you undergo that procedure, a scan would be the best first step to locate a primary and any local/regional mets such as nodal involvement or distant metastases...and then, they can go after it surgically.


Ex-spouse MISDIAGNOSED with SCC-HN IVa 12/10. Tonsils out 1/11. 4 teeth out 2/11. TX Erbitux x2, IMRT x2 2/11. 2nd opinion-benign BCC-NOT CANCER 3/11. TX stopped 3/11. New doctors 4/11. ENT agrees with 2nd opinion 5/11. ENT scoped him-all clear 7/11. Ordered MRI anyway. MRI 8/22/11 Result-all clear.
Sandy177 #139647 09-09-2011 07:42 PM
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Sandy got this right, a primary in the tonsil can be as small as 2mm. That is not a typo. At that size it can spin off daughter cells that travel rapidly through the normal lymph drainage system in the the cervical nodes and overnight you are moving from a stage one to a stage four when that happens. The only way to biopsy the tonsil is to take the whole thing, a 2mm primary won't even show up on a scan. I have a previous post up about a study we did with Hopkins that looks at this phenomenon


Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
Brian Hill #139648 09-09-2011 07:49 PM
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When we were going through the process of trying to locate a primary tumor, we were told that it may be too small to find and that there is a possibility that it resolved on its own. J had both tonsils out and random oral cavity biopsies. They were all negative. We accepted that treatment could not be focused on an identified tumor. He began radiation over a broader field in conjunction with EGFR Inhibitor chemotherapy.


Ex-spouse MISDIAGNOSED with SCC-HN IVa 12/10. Tonsils out 1/11. 4 teeth out 2/11. TX Erbitux x2, IMRT x2 2/11. 2nd opinion-benign BCC-NOT CANCER 3/11. TX stopped 3/11. New doctors 4/11. ENT agrees with 2nd opinion 5/11. ENT scoped him-all clear 7/11. Ordered MRI anyway. MRI 8/22/11 Result-all clear.
Sandy177 #139652 09-09-2011 08:20 PM
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the dr said something like can't do a ct scan with dye until he knows that the thyroid is not cancer'es because the thyroid might act up?or something like that.does this sound right.he said he would let me know monday on the thyroid. i'll be at the hospital also monday to talk to the anesthesia dr...i'll ask the nurse if theres any way i can get in sooner.

i'm having a(direct laryngoscopy with biopsy) can't read his writing very good.and what is it.thanks for any help...mark


having a direct laryngoscopy & biopsy and ct scan....9-18-11
dr might take my thyroid out.
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