Well hello ... I'm one of three sisters.My older (not much older;})sister is Penny (on the site)She's been diagnosed with SCC stage 3 tonsil/tongue about 2wks ago..since that time it seems life has been a blurr for her and all those who love her. Treatment was nearly immediate. The urgency and aggressiveness genuinely frightened me...my heart and my head hurt.But now with the full diagnosis and the first treament under her belt, installation of the feeding tube to fatten her up, things have slowed a bit.Time to put a few things in order and 'plan' for the next week.
As I said one of three...my younger( not much younger) sister is Sarah1997 she's the one who found this site (and so many other resources) for us... she is not close to us in location so she has channeled her efforts into researching......thank goodness for her...because here we are..on this site I should mention Carlygusta is my niece(also on this site). So here we all are learning from, sharing with and being inspired by all of you. Sarah said this was a great site forinformation and that you just feel better after reading the posts...She was right.I look forward to the day I post "WE MADE IT!!!!" Thank you for sharing...helping us to know what we may have instore... and Pen if you read this EAT, EAT, EAT and then EAT some more!!!!!

Sorry to hear about you sister. Like you came across this site it

I'm also one of 3 very close sisters and it's been a sanity saver for me to have them help me research and review information for my husband's cancer. We live in 3 different states but we all call, email and vent to each other several times per week, as does my son, brother and assorted neices and nephews. There is no question that the collective "we" happens very quickly with cancer and our trials and triumphs are theirs as well. As lousey as it is to be dealing with cancer, how great that you are doing it as a family. Good for you...and yes Penny if you are reading this take your sister's advice and eat, eat, eat but also drink 3 quarts of water every day. It helps with the side effects. You will learn how to do that thru the feeding tube to supplement your swallowing.
Best of luck with the treatments and that "We made it" day will come and you can have a family party - that's what we did before and after treatment and it was awesome.
Regards JoAnne

Thank you Joanne I saw that you also replied to my sister...Thank you so much for that and all that you said ...I know she'll come thru this its just a long stinky road ahead.
I do have another question though...What about nutritional supplements..Vitamins/herbal not as alternative but in addition to ...being sure her immunity stays strong... Vit C /echineacia, Zinc...magnesium calcium etc. are these okay?Iron to protect from anemia where she can't get this nurishment orally. Is 'Prosure' really all encompassing nutritionally?

Danica [what a pretty name] Always ask Penny's Docs before having her take any herbals, etc. John's Oncologist told his that Centrum Silver[we are in that age group] was fine to take, but he wasn't too excited about some other stuff and said absolutely NO to a couple of things I asked about. I remember reading here about not taking milk of magnesium [ I think ??] during radiation. I seem to remember Gary saying that and I believe just about everything Gary writes [altho he still chooses to live in an earthquake zone] So unless someone in your family is a chemist or pharmacist, ask first about suppliments during treatment. It's so good that Penny has you all by her side. Amy

JAM
I figured we'd have to check with the Dr. I just didn't know if there were definite no-no's. Do you remember you're "absolutely NO's" from John's Dr? Milk of magnesia is a lax ..I believe she already takes one. Thanks so much for your input ..Today she goes for the 2nd chemo treatment...
I want to share this for other newcomers - Sarah found a site called lotsahelpinghands.com where Carly [Penny's daughter] and her Aunt Deb [Penny's sister-in-law] coordinate and people who want to help can pick an area where help is needed ...for instance cooking dinners or shopping or house cleaning, driving to appts, etc.. They sign up on the site so the rest of us know where help is needed and where it's covered. We just started it... seems like a great idea.. hope it works.

Hi Danica,
Jack's medical and radiation oncologist told us absolutely no to vitamin supplements other than a standard centrum multi vitamin. They did not want anything that would interfere with the chemo or blood flow in the radiation area. Many nutritional supplements are very expensive and some are on the quackwatch list. I'd be careful because some of these products really play on our sense of vulnerability.

The feeding formulas are pretty balanced nutritionally and her radiation center should be able to set Penny up with a nutrition consult through their facility. A lot is going to depend on what she is able to tolerate as the treatments go on. The main thing is that she maintain her calories and hydration.

As far as immune system issues, basic handwashing, making sure people with infections don't get near her, wiping down phones, door knobs etc with the clorax cloths are good precuations. We asked people not to come visit if they had colds etc. She will most likely have issues with anemia or low white counts at various points throughout the treatments and they will give her injections to deal with that.

Great idea on the website to coordinate help. If you can line up a lot of different people it won't burn out any one volunteer. One of the nicest things someone did for us was to call up a local restaurant and have them deliver a full course dinner to us - tip included. They paid by credit card and all we had to do was sit down and eat it. It's the little things....

Regards JoAnne

Hi, Danica, sorry, I can't remember the "no-no's"-it's been too long- but that DID teach me to ask before trying it out on John![as far as the laxatives go-make sure what she uses doen not have magnesium in it because it interferes with something n either the chemo or radiation. Talking to a cancer trained nutritionist is different than talking to a health food store salesperson. Much as we love our "patient"- it is sometimes possible to unwittingly do more harm that good.[altho I still am of the mind set that homemade chicken soup never hurt anyone] STAY STRONG. Amy