Hello everyone. Just wanted to let you know how things are going for my mother.

Thank you Lisa, Jerry and Cathy for all the information you have given me. It really means a lot to me.

My mom had her surgery on Wed. and came home on Thurs. I was a little surprised they sent her home so soon. They removed 1/2 her tongue and did a skin graft from her upper leg. They put a Bolt(of gauze) on top of the graft and she will have that removed in about 5-7 days. Very hard for her to even talk or take liquids in. She has to drink real slow. I hope when she gets that removed then she will be able to take in some soft food.
We go to the dr. on Monday to get the pathology report. After the surgery he did say he got clean margins. I just hope the the patho report says the same thing.
Does anyone know how long it take for the graft to take?
Just waiting for the pathology report is enough to drive me crazy.
I will keep you all posted.
Thanks again for all the information you have given me.
I will continue to keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

Michelle

Michelle

That is great news. The recovery has begun for your mom. It is time for you to relax, not go crazy. I am going to go out on a limb here. Most likely, the only way the surgeon would have said he had clear margins is if a "Frozen Section" was done during the surgery. That is, a pathologist would given a preliminary report during the surgery, confirming the margins were clear. Relax and enjoy the good news and the weekend.

Bill

Bill,
Thanks for responding back. I really appreciate everyones kind words. I am so glad to have found this web site. It gives me great comfort.

How are you doing? Are you a caregiver or cancer survivor?
My mother is home recovering from surgery.
But she has a long road ahead (radiation).
The unknown ahead is what scares me.
I'm just worried about her getting her nutrition while she is going through radiation. She is 70yrs old. She is in very good health. Before this all came about she was going to the ymca 4 days a weeks getting her exercise. That has paid off for her the dr. told her. That was why they decided to do the surgery before radiation.
The oncology radiologist said he wanted her to have surgery first and then radiation. I really didn't understand why. They kept saying she was a good canidate for surgery.
Take care and have a good weekend.
Michelle

HI MICHELLE, BILL IS RIGHT YOU NEED TO TAKE IT
EASY NOW. I'M STILL GOING TO PRAY FOR YOUR MOM
AND HOPE HER RECOVERY IS GOOD. BUT, DO TAKE CARE
OF YOURSELF AS WELL. I'M NOT A CARE GIVER BUT HAD
TONGUE CANCER BACK IN 1990. IT BOUGHT ME SOME
EXTRA YEARS. I DO HOPE THINGS GET BETTER FOR YOU AND YOUR MOM.
CATHY

Hi again Michelle

I am a SURVIVOR. You can find my story here: http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/14/t/000018.html

I consider myself on of the more fortunate. Though I did have 39 radiation treatments and 8 chemotherapy, my journey was not near as bad as some of the others here. Each and every one of us is different.

I would be the first to suggest talking with the docs about a possible PEG. Nutrition and hydration are going to be extremely important. Plan ahead, even if it does not become necessary. As an RN I am sure that you will likely pay much attention to your mother's doctors. By now I am sure that you know the drill, questions, questions, questions. Write them down as they come to you so that you will not forget to ask them.

Be strong for your mom. Don't let the unknown get to you. We face the unknown each and every day that we awaken. Ask, read and learn. There is more information here at OCF than one could ever absorb. Become a sponge for your mom. If mom is capable, get her here also. There IS strength in numbers.

Bill

Michelle,

That's great news for the surgery. I had frozen sections done and all looked well and it was confirmed by the path report.

I had a smaller tongue surgery than your mom with a 2 cm radius section of my tongue removed from the lateral border and was in the hospital for 3 and a half days. I didn't eat solid foods for 10 days and had a great deal of difficulty even with liquids. I, too, am surprised that they sent your mom home so soon.

Sorry I can't give you any information about the graft, but there are many here that I hope will fill you in.

Looking forward to hearing about a "good" path report.

Jerry

Thanks again everyone for all the information and the kind words everyone.
I am trying to be real strong for both my mom and dad. I know this is hard for my father.
My mom is a very strong and positive person. It's amazing to see how strong she is.
I have a husband and a 5yr old little boy who need me also. I took my little boy to go see grandma because he asks about her all the time.
My mom was helping me with getting my little guy on the bus 2 days a week so I could go into work.
Since this all happened grandma is not able to come over. So he asks alot of questions.
He is my strength. I never realized how much you can love a person until I had him. It's amazing.

Anyhow I go see my mom 2 times a day. I change her dressing on her leg (the graft site).
She is just still only able to take in liquids for now. She seem to have alot of mucus in her mouth. I looked at her tongue and noticed that she has a coating on it. I think it's from the boost and drinkable yogerts. The dr. said not to use a tooth brush, just rinse mouth with warm water for now. I got some of the toothetes(the spongy sticks) for her to use to help clean inside her mouth.
Any suggestions on what she can use to keep her mouth clean while she is healing and the graft takes. I took the (spongy stick) and wiped the top of her tongue off and some came off, but she has a hard time doing it herself.
I have a question for you Jerry. I see that you had a neck dissection. Was this your choice or did something show up on a CT scan.
My mom's CT scan was normal and the dr. said he did not want to take any lymph nodes out because the radiation would take care of it. Any the other reason was because of her age being 70.
I was also wondering why you did not have radiation? I am so glad you are doing well.

Thanks Cathy and Bill for your reply.
I plan on reading your story today.
Yes I am an RN. I do see alot and sometimes that scares me more than anything. I love my job. I love to help people and take care of them.
But when someone in your family is facing cancer, it puts you on the other side of things.
Take care everyone. Michelle

Hi Michelle,

You have wonderful questions and your mom is lucky to have a daughter like you taking care of her.

I had a CT scan taken before I saw the surgeon and it was ordered by my oral surgeon who did the biopsy. The CT scan was clear, but since no radiation was planned and the surgeon's opinion was that there could be a 15% error in a CT scan being negative, his recommendation was to remove the lymph nodes. I could not argue with his reasoning. In fact, his protocol is to not even take a CT scan and always remove the nodes. The more you read here, the more you will see that there are many, many ways to treat this disease. Unfortunately, no one has all the answers.

I might add that the radiation oncologist agreed that radiation was not needed for me based upon the size of the original lesion, the staging and the results of the pathology report of the tongue and lymph nodes.

Please keep us posted and keep on picking our brains.

Jerry