Hi, My mother was diagnosed this week with stage 4 tongue/throat cancer which is in lymph nodes on both sides, she is 73 . I spoke with Brian yesterday (thanks for speaking with me) . The Oncologist said realistically moms expected life would be 1 yr"ish IF she did the whole hardcore ,chemo and radiation, The surgeon will not do the surgery because he doesn't feel she would make it through the surgery.
Mom has decided to not go through with the chemo or radiation as currently she is not sick, just has some ear pain, and throat is sore since panendocsopy last week. She has decided to make the best of what life she has left (the Oncologist suggested 3-6 months ) . Does anyone have any suggestions to help slow the cancer or at least deal with the pain for her upcoming monthes??
Sheila

She needs to have this discussion with her doctors so that they can prescribe the appropriate, and increasingly stronger, pain meds that she will need as the disease progresses. There is little other than the regime of treatments that have been mentioned that will slow the progression of the disease. Major tumor masses could be excised or destroyed by RFA, but that will not have a major time factor influence. Please remember that no doctor can tell her with certainty if the treatments will buy her 6 months, a year or longer even. The lack of any treatment can be more accurately be predicted in the rate at which things will deteriorate.

If this is the plan that she is comfortable with, please be sure that you have appropriate hospice people ready as things begin to wind down. They will make the process much more comfortable for both the family and for her. Obviously oral cancer does not kill us in our mouths, but through mets to a vital organ. If this happens slowly in her case, it is not a visually or physically pleasant means of death for the patient or the family. Some can linger on for protracted periods of time and develop serious complications in the head and neck region, such as open draining fistulas and more as things progress that require constant attention.

Her decision is being based on her current lack of discomfort. Untreated, that situation will not last for long. Please be sure that she has carefully considered all the possibilities, and is without any doubt, and has given this careful consideration since there will be no turning back. A frank discussion with the doctors in which they describe the likely sequence of events and outward manifestations of the disease process is in order. I would do this early, so that if their comments and prognosis sway her choice, it happens early enough to be able to allow positive effects should she choose some treatments.

Hi Sheila,
I have to first say I'm sorry to hear of your mother's prognosis. My husband died this Thanksgiving of stage 4 tongue cancer. What advice I can offer you (and I have seen it all)is shoot for quality of life. Of course she will need those higher end pain meds to keep the pain down but seeing what I did in my husband's long 10 month battle, he would have wanted to be able to enjoy the little time he had left and he didn't.
If you did opt for any treatments maybe radiation could shrink the tumor so her pain won't be as bad but that won't offer a cure.
Some friends told me about Essiac tea which is supposed to be a natural-herb tea which builds a person's immunity and several had said on the website that they are cancer-free now from drinking it. It would be worth a shot. These kind of treatments can be costly and you do need a good three months for them to start to work so if it sounds good to you, go on-line and type in Essiac so she can get it soon. There are also other alternate meds out there (that are of course not Dr. approved) that you can find on-line or at a small health food store. We never got to try the alternative meds but what does your Mom have to lose. If anything if it boosts her immune system maybe she'll have more good days than bad.
Please know that my advice is solely just that and I don't mean to step on anyone's toes or tell you my advice is the best. It may not be but to me it would be worth a try. At your Mom's age, she doesn't need to be battered down by treatments.
God bless you and your family,
Lisa

That tea is not going to do anything and anecdotal evidence from a for profit web site selling it, and testimonials from private individuals related to it (especially CACER CURE) are only worth as much as the time it takes to type them on a web page. This cancer moves rapidly and if money is no concern to you, you can spend it on these things. But I do not believe that you will be changing the course of things or buying her time by spending your money on herbal immune system boosters of unproven benefit. I understand that the previous poster only means the best with their advice, and this post should not be construded as any kind of attack on them.... but I am sick of seeing good people taken advantage of by web sites promising something that they cannot deliver in the real world, and families spending money they do not have on things that have no scientific proof of effect.

Hi Brian,
You seem like you have done way more research than I have. I guess when anyone is desperate they think "what do I have to lose?" I only know what others have told me when my husband was sick and of course we did do the traditional treatment options (surgery, raditation, chemo) and I do not regret those courses of action. It seems like you know more about those other websites being scams and if that is the case, thank you for shining light on that.
If nothing else, I guess we can all learn that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, I think if it was me and the doctors said "you have six months to live" I might do it at that point because I have always been a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" kind of person but at the same time I do not want to promote something to Sheila that may not be worth it.
Thanks for your insite on this issue Brian.
Lisa

Sheila,

Sorry to hear about your mom. I also belive that the tea will have no effect. Cancer treatments have been developed and standardized over the years through research, clinical trials and overall efficacy of the treatments themselves.

Anything other than current accepted treatments consisting of surgical procedures, radiation and/or chemotherapy treatments would be considered experimental and poorly speculative.