Hello everyone ,
Please say your prayers today. My mom is having surgery on her tongue today. She has SCC on her right lateral tongue. She had it back in 1986 and 1989 in which they just did surgery.
Then 3 yrs ago she had some dysplasia in which they did surgery again. Now it's back as cancer again. The Dr. is saying stage 2. Had a ct scan of neck and shows everything looks good.
So she is having partial glossectomy and then will have radiation in about 4-6 weeks.

I hope the dr. is able to get clean margins today.
Does anyone know if you find results the day of surgery or do you have to wait?
My mom is 70rys old. She has never smoked a day in her life. I just don't get it.

I'm really worried about the radiation side effects that I have been reading.

I have to go to the hospital now. Thanks for listening and I will continue to pray for all of you. Michelle

Hi Michelle!

You & your mum will definitely be in my thoughts & prayers.

In my case,I had to wait few days until after surgery for the report regarding clean margins.

Try not to worry too much about the radiation side effects as it varies individually & it might be tough but not impossible to endure.

Here's wishing your mum a speedy recovery.
Take care.Jill

HI I also had to wait a few day's and that was in
1990. I'll pray on her as well. I wish her lot's
of luck and love,
Cathy

Michelle,

My prayers are with you.

I had frozen sections done during the surgery with immediate, but not 100% conclusive results.

The written pathology report was needed for the final results to be conclusive.

Hope all went well.

Jerry

Thank you both Jill and Cathy for your thoughts and prayers. It touches my heart to know that you are thinking of me and my mom.
I just got home from the hospital. I was there all day 12 hours. Really emotional time today.
Her surgery started late and was longer than expected. Well, longer than what the Dr. had told us. He did do a skin graft and took about 1/2 of her tongue. He said it went they way he expected.
Whatever that means.
He did say that he got clean margins but we will get the patho report in a few days. Does this mean that he might not of got it all out?
I was a little confused on that statement he made.
What more will the patho say than the original biopsy said. I don't really understand.
I hope he is being honest.

I had so much going thru my mind when he finally came out to talk to us after the surgery. I asked many questions, but you always have more when the dr. is gone.

Thanks again and I will keep you posted.

She will be having radiation in about 4 weeks.
Cathy did you have a skin graft when they did your surgery?
The way he explained it was that he put a (bolt) which is a piece of gauze to hold the skin graft and will remove that in about 5-7 days.

Thanks again Michelle

Thank you also Jerry for your reply. Did you have a skin graft also. My mom had a CT scan of her neck and he said that was normal. No indication that the cancer spread to lymph nodes. And he did not take any out to test since she will be having radiation anyhow. She is 70 and did not want to put her thru that surgery.
So when you had frozen sections done at the time of your surgery did they tell you they had gotten clean margins at that time and then just had to wait for the final results?
Did you have to go thru radiation?

Thanks again for your time and answers.

Michelle

Michelle,

At the end of my surgery, the doctors felt they had clean margins, but the pathology report (which took several more days to complete) was much more detailed. It described the exact margins around the tumor site (some were greater than others). It also listed each lymph node or group of lymph nodes that had been removed, and what was found from the examination of each of them, as well as the results of testing any other tissue that they took out. This was far more information than what the original biopsy would have shown.

I hope your mother can start to get some strength back before radiation begins -- it will help her if she can put on a little extra weight. The first couple of weeks of radiation are often fairly tolerable for most people, but beyond that, the unpleasant effects can sneak up on you.

We're all here for you when you need support or suggestions for getting through this.

Cathy

Michelle,

I did not have any treatment beyond the surgery. No grafts and no radiation or chemo. I was lucky to have found my scc at such an early stage.

The surgeon told me and my family that he was sure all was good based upon the frozen sections and the appearance of the lymph nodes at the time of surgery. The final path report confirmed it.

Hoping to hear great progress about your mom. Please keep posting.

Jerry

Michelle,

I did have a graft after my tongue surgery and a bolus stitched in to keep the graft in place. It is difficult to talk and eat around, but it does its job of protecting the graft so it can "take". It is also keeping pressure on that spot. The size of the tumor was small enough that they were able to use alloderm instead of a graft of my own skin. So think of it as a pressure bandage. I got my pathology results when they removed the bolus and the stitches from my MND.

I am thinking good thoughts for your mom, and for you!

Sincerely,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Thank you for the information. I am so happy for you that you are doing so well.
Were you able to eat better once you had that pressure bandage remove?
And when do they finally remove all the stiches.
They told us 5-7 days for the gauze that is holding the graft together. I was wondering about the rest of the stiches.
I see you also had a modified neck dissection. Did you have any enlarged lymph nodes or was it your choice to have that done?
Sorry for all the questions. I hope this is ok.
Did they give you any kind of mouth rinse to use after your surgery. They told my mom to use warm water. I noticed she has a coating on her tongue from some of the boost and drinkable yogerts. She has a hard time getting it off because her tongue is sore. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on any mouth rinses.
Thanks again. Michelle