Hi, I am new to this forum. My Dad, aged 65, was diagnosed with SCC in August 2005. September 2005 he had a partial glossectomy and node disection on his right hand side. Out of 34 nodes, 2 were positive for SCC. He underwent radiation and chemo and finished up right before Christmas 2005. Fast forward 10 weeks and he is having pain in his tongue again. He went back to his ENT this past Wednesday and got the news yesterday that the cancer is back. (CRAP!) They are talking extensive surgery and brachytherapy, (sounds scary,) as well as chemo. We thought we were DONE with this horrible invader....now we have to start the fight again. And he is already so weak! I would love to talk to someone who has had a reoccurance. I hope to get tips on nutrition, pain, daily life. You name it, I would love to get the input of others like my Dad...to help him out. I feel so helpless and I love him so much!!!

Jill - daughter to a wonderful man fighting cancer.

Just be there for him and try to understand how emotional this battle can be for the one who is fighting it. I, for one, was not always in the best frame of mind and I was grateful for the love of my family and friends and even a few strangers as well.
My thoughts are with you.

Hi, Jill. My husband is battling a recurrance also. Diagnosed in Jan, more surgery in Feb and soon to start chemo. It has been really tough for him to "get up to speed" to fight this time. The 1st go round he was positive pretty much throughout the tx., even tho the rad. wiped him out. We are taking it day by day as far as attitude this time. He refuses anti depressants so I just try to encourage and engage him in daily life as much as I can.{John is a terrible patient] We are having alot of trouble with nutrition. He has a peg [can only swallow small sips of water now]and has continued to lose weight. I don't know what will happen when the chemo starts. Good luck to you and keep posting- maybe we can learn from each other. Amy

Well, we saw another Dr. in Pittsburgh this past Friday for a second opinion. The tumor is much larger than we originally thought and we are facing 1 or 2 possibilities depending on the PET/CT scan we had on Friday
1. If the cancer has not spread they will preform a total glossectomy and left neck disection. (He already had the nodes on the right taken out in Sept.) PEG and Trach also.
2. If it has spread it is non-operable and terminal!
Excuse the language....but WHAT THE F**K?!?!?! This has me so worried and depressed! Should we go get a THIRD opinion....Sloan-Kettering, John's Hopkins, Mayo Clinic? I will do whatever it takes. Right now, we are with UPMC, one of the top 10 in Cancer treatment in the country but I don't want to accept a death sentance and neither does my Dad!

Jill,
I am very sorry to hear about your father.
I don't know how much help I can be since I am fairly new here myself.

When your father had SCC in August of 2005 did they ever do a pet-scan prior to his treatment to determine if the cancer was anywhere else? Did they do a CT scan also?
And what stage was the cancer in 8/2005?
Are they saying the cancer has spread or has it just come back in the same area?
I think you need to do what ever it takes to fight this. I know it's a very stressful and
emotional time for you and your father.

My mom is 70yrs old. She has SCC on right lateral tongue. She had it back in l986 and l988- just had surgery to remove it. Been fine until 2003 had partial glossectomy for dysplasia(abnormal cells). Now she has SCC again. Just had surgery 2 wks ago. Had 1/2 her tongue removed. CT scan normal. She will then be going through radiation soon. They are saying stage 1.
I am myself very upset and worried. All I can do is take one day at a time.
My mom has never smoked a day in her life.
Your father has been through this once. I am very sorry that he has to go through it again.
That's why I was asking about the staging and other tests. It's hard to believe that it has come back in a matter of 10 weeks.
Call the dr. everyday to try to get the Pet-scan results. My understanding was they should be able to get the results the same day.
If there is anything I can do, or you just need to talk to someone let me know.

I will keep you and your father in my prayers.


Michelle

Jill,

Sory to hear about your dad. As any of the doctors indicated what the staging is for this recurrence in terms of the TNM rating. The T is for the size of the tumor, N is for the number of nodes involved and the M is for the number of other vital organs to which cancer cells have spread to.

A CT scan or a combines CT/PET of the neck and abdomen area should show if there is spread outside the primary site.
However, because your dad had radiation just before Xmas 2005 the PET/CT scan may give false positives of the neck area.

Both our ENT and Radiation Oncologist are not too keen on CT scans of the head/neck just after radiation treatment.

Michelle
If you don't mind me asking what facility in Ohio is treating your mother? I am located in Columbus and wondered if she was being treated at The James? My father was recently diagnosed and now five weeks out of surgery we are beginning chemo/radiation, one week into it as of today
Kim(sue1215)

Kim,
You can ask me anything you want.
Sorry to hear about your dad. Sounds like he is in good hands. I did some research and the cancer center in columbus is ranked pretty high as one of the top cancer centers in ohio. The James?
My mother is going to be treated at Mercy Medical Center in Canton Ohio. It is a Community based treatment center site of the Ireland Cancer center. The main center is at University hospital in Cleveland.
My mother just had surgery 2 wks ago. 1/2 of her tongue removed. Not sure if you read any of my postings about her.
We meet with the RO in Mid April. We will find out then as to what extent her treatment will be.
Not sure if they will do radiation on both sides of neck or not. The ENT dr. got clean margins on the patho report. Had a CT of neck and was normal.
We first went to meet with the RO prior to her surgery and he was the one that recommended surgery first and then radiation. He did not mention chemo. The patho report said T1 tumor.
But my dad asked the ENT dr. and he said stage 2.
So not sure exactly of the staging. She is 70 and in very good health besides this cancer.
Hopefully the RO will explain more to us when we go see him.
I am hoping they do a Pet-scan first before they start radiation.

Did your father have a Pet-scan?
How was his cancer diagnosed? Did he find the lump himself?
I will keep you in my prayers? Take care
Michelle