Updated: June 20th, mom, 49, has stage 2 oral cancer (right side of tongue),less than 2 cms, MRI June 10th, saw ENT on June 20th. ENT told us MRI has come back & it looks like one of the nodes on the right side (same side as the tongue) might also be cancer. Surgerye is in 4 to 5 weeks, removing 30% of the tongue, and than replacing it with skin from other parts of the body. The nodes will also be removed from the right side and will spend 10 to 12 days in the hospital. She will have some form of tube for breathing for 4 days. After the surgery, 4 to 5 weeks later they will decide whether or not radiation or chemo will be the next step. Though he said he wasn't sure, that they would make that decision later on...

I am guessing radiation would be the next step, but he didnt come out and say it, ..probably because he didnt want us to worry? He said the surgery will take 10 hours ..

n e comments?

Her son, the 10 hours of surgery will be much tougher for you than for your mom. When I regained consciousness after that same length of time, I had a trach to breath, and was not ever in pain because the nurses were on top of it. It will be your job to make sure she is not in pain, and to act as her advocate if she is. I would suggest that you have a pen and paper, or a magic slate, or something for her to write on as soon as she is awake. I was trying to ask questions by pantomime, and that did not work well. Be prepared for her to be very, very swollen, and to have many drains and bandages. She will look much worse than she feels, belive me. The second day I was up and walking the halls, trailing an IV, and although I felt pretty good, I scared so many people that I went back to my room. In a day or so the trach will be changed for one that she will be able to talk with by covering it with her hand. Generally, the trach is removed before the patient goes home. This is just covered with a small bandage and usually heals very quickly.

This is no small thing, but is something your mom can get through. I was scared and it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She will surely have questions, so if she cannot access the internet herself, please relay them so we can answer them for her.

Herson,

I also had a Stage II tumor in my tongue -- had a little less than 20% of the tongue removed (no graft) and many nodes removed from my neck. My doctors and nurses saw to it that I had enough pain medication, so for a couple of weeks beyond the surgery it was just a matter of dealing with some swelling and discomfort until things started to go back to normal. Like Joanna, I looked more scary than I felt. Many people here (myself included) will tell you that this surgery is usually a piece of cake compared with radiation.

I'm guessing that your mother's team will make a recommendation on the radiation issue based on what they find after surgery -- the margins around the tumor and the pathology report on the nodes they remove.

In the meantime, try to be sure your mother is getting plenty of good nutrition before her treatment starts. It helps to go into this with as much strength and stamina as possible.

Cathy

I was a stage II also--had 30% of my tongue removed as well as twenty-something neck nodes. I didn't have a graft and I will ad my voice to Cathy's that I looked way more scary than I felt afterwards (kind of like the bride of frankenstein). I had good pain medication and was fairly healthy otherwise going into the surgery and recovered pretty quickly. It took me a hwile to get back to eating totally normally but I did eventually (before radiation).

Radiation (and chemo if they recommend that) are much much harder to go through than the surgery, even though the surgery scared me a lot beforehand.

Nelie