Linda,
Regarding Anne's advice...M.D. Anderson, as part of their regimen, will send you to their onsite dentists to analyze your dental health and to determine whether or not teeth need to be pulled before beginning radiation. Some of my favorite doctors in all of my MD Anderson experience were in the dental section.

Danny G.

Wow, this is great guys, im touched that i have received such support from all of you! Now, this is "doable" no doubt! I have written down alot of things im going to ask for...such as the Fentanyl and the Biafine. Tomarrow is the big day, i learn my fate...chemo or radiation or both! Are there any bets? The "PEG" is not out of the question here, remember i just got my tonsils taken out, and i have a feeling, this was just a taste of how the radiation is going to be. And for all those who have wondered about my smoking...I am a NON SMOKER of 12 weeks!!! And damn proud of it, but ashamed i ever did smoke in the first place! As of the teeth, my daughter is a dentist, so how lucky can i be! The floride trays are in the making and the dental hygiene will be watched closely But i do have an appointment with the Dentist Oncolgist next week, i think 6 or 8 will have to come out. (It just seems to get worse everytime i go) I did get some good news though, My CT of my chest came out clear, and that they said needs to be watched every 3 months for awhile! OK, before i call it a night, one last request...when i had my tonsils taken out, the canker sores in my mouth multiplied in days, my sister found a fast cure for them "DGL" but what i need is how to prevent them altogether? Or am i just dreaming... After tomarrow, after i get over the shock, i will let ya'll in on the treatment. (After i cry and scream and say "why me") Thank you again for responding to me, i dont feel like im alone in this anymore, i have someone that understands and i mean really understands what i will be going through. And thanks to my bestfriend (my sister)for being my rock "Thank God for Sisters"!!!

Hi Linda,

Congrats on stopping smoking. That is a great accomplishment.

I can address your concern about the sores and trying to reduce their occurrence. Please check with your docs, but I prescribe and use L-Lysine myself, an amino acid which is available in any drugstore and is over the counter. You can take one 500 mg tab a day as a preventive and if a sore starts despite taking one a day, you can go to 2 500 mg tabs in the morning and 2 at night.

Good luck tomorrow and don't forget to ask if L-Lysine is OK. I don't know of any contraindications for it.

Jerry

Congrats on quitting. Stick to it.

I too tried everything to stop smoking. Pills, patches, hypnosis, when I woke up from the surgery and they told me it was cancer, I never touched another. That was just about three years ago and I have not had one and have absolutely no desire to ever have one.

To be honest, When I think of all the damage it causes people I cant believe that it is legal.

And, after what I went through I can get pretty nasty with people that smoke in front of me. I never thought I would be that guy.

I was standing in line to get my drivers license renewed the other day and their was a guy right in front of me (line was out the door) lighting one up after another. I told him to stop and swiftly got a lecture on how it was his right to smoke in public. Then I got a manager and told them I was a cancer survivor, smoking was the cause, and that he was putting me in danger by smoking in front of me.

I might have said something about hearing from my lawyer as well. At that point I was moved to the front of the line.

Glad to hear you quit. It

Linda,
Dr. Chambers, the dental oncologist at MDACC prescribed an "oral wound rinse" for me that is available in the pharmacy at MDACC. When you meet with the dental oncologist, ask about it.

Danny G.

Well, it wasnt as bad as i thought! Here it is...No Chemo (which i was expecting) but they said, dont need it since it was caught so early, I finally found out what stage i was in too. T1,N2,M0. But the radiation, i have to do, 6 weeks of it. Thanks so much for the L-lysine idea, i talked to the doc and she said she had no problem with me taking it. Wow, Jerry, your a dentist and ended up with this ! My oldest daughter is a dentist too, and when i told her I had SCC...well you probably know what her reaction was. Congrats on the one year... And guys thanks for congradulating me on my not smoking anymore, and "no" i wont cheat or ever smoke again, trust me! And for all of you that had to breath my second hand smoke, "Im sorry" and Danny, its funny you said something about Dr. Chambers, cause im going to see him next Friday in surgery when Dr. Martin takes out my teeth, he will be fitting me for my stint, so i will ask him for the oral wound rinse, thanks! Well im glad its the weekend and no more doctor appts. (the weekends help me feel normal and not like a cancer patient, weird huh?) Until next week...Have a great weekend and God Bless all of you, thanks again for all ya'lls support!

Linda,

You're welcome and I hope it works. Those apthous ulcers can be really painful at times.

If you or your daughter care to talk, send me an email with a phone number and I'll give a call. I am, however, leaving for a 2 week vacation on Monday. I will be around until then.

Good luck with the radiation.

Jerry

Linda,

Based on your information, doesn't that make you a stage III or IV? I was just suprised that they didn't recommend chemo if you are in one of those stages.

Sarah

Ditto to the above post. Also, did they do a neck dissetion to remove the affected nodes?
Welcome to the site and best of luck with your TX. OCF will get you through. It's been my savoir thru this as a caregiver.

yes they did take out my cervical lymphnode. And all i know is that they told me, that chemo would not do anything for me besides make me sick and i would not benefit from it at all since they caught it so soon! They feel the radiation will do the job. And the chemo would be an overkill i assume! They even gave me a study that m.d. anderson has done and it shows to be what they have told me. And i stand to be corrected....T1,N1,Mo. im sorry about the typo error. Thanks for the concern so do ya'll think i should question m.d. anderson about my treatment? Please let me know it i should or not? Hey, Danny G. what do you think (since you are a patient there too) Now you got me running scared...Brian, how bout you?