I was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in my mouth on the upper right side of my gums. I went to an oral surgeon, who did the biopsy, and he called me on the phone and said I had cancer. I was shocked he'd say something like that over the phone. I was also displeased. So when I went to see him I had very little trust in him.

He explained how they were planning to remove it and it sounded horrible. I guess with my concern for the way he practiced medicine by calling me with that type of news, I didn't trust what he said. I was afraid of going through what he said and so I started praying and asking for a miracle.

I do believe in miracles, however I learned that we have to do our part. I didn't change my eating habits, exercise, or do anything to naturally to help me fight the cancer, and so it grew. Finally it seemed to spread and I wanted to go back to the doctor, but my insurance had changed and oral surgeons were not covered.

I went one year or so without seeing a doctor and when I finally did get new insurance, the entire roof of my mouth had a tumor. In addition I was told that my kidneys suffered from Chronic Kidney Disease, and I had to be put on dialysis. Because of the dialysis, I couldn't do chemo, I could only do radiation. I have had over 26 radiation treatments, but I've been very blessed. I haven't experienced any of the pains the doctor warned me about.

I do have dry mouth and sore lips. My teeth were not pulled before radiation causing them to decay and therefore making eating solid foods impossible. I lost around 15-20 lbs since September 06. Miraculously my kidneys recovered and my rad Dr. said I should get some lite doses of chemo to help the rad. I'm approaching the finally few rad sessions before my Dr. considers me to have a "full dose of rad". Now all of a sudden my throat is sore, I have headaches, and I vomitted yesterday. I'm ready to call off the rest of the rad sessions, seeing as I only have four more to go. But I'm not sure?

Does anyone have any comments?

You need to listen to your cancer docs. You have been very fortunate not to experience the adverse side effects most get. If you only have 4 left I (me personally) would not stop. Most people by now can barely swallow, are nauseated, are very weak, have mouth sores, are dehydrated and can barely talk. Your docs want to hit your cancer with everything they can the first time because they and you don't want to face a second time. Even if you stop now or you continue you still have a few weeks of side effects to deal with. Most people experience their worse side effects the 2 weeks post treatment.

Hang in there a few weeks longer.

I concur with David. You have been thru a lot and I think your Docs would stop treatment if they felt it would harm you more than help. I hope you can maybe insist on some stronger pain meds to get you thru this difficult time.Otherwise there are many survivors here who have been where you are and will offer some great advice so keep us informed and I wish you the best.
Mark D.

I'm no sure I understand why you were so upset that your Doctor told you the diagnosis over the phone? Especially that you were upset enough to not seek treatment for a year after?

The treatment can be horrible, but dying from this demon is not very palitable in my mind. You've been lucky to have had minimal effects from radiation, but to stop with 4 treatments remaining because it's starting to get uncomfortable now would be foolhardly. Trust your Doctors, get pain medication to deal with the pain issues and remember always that this disease will KILL you if ignored
Wayne

I must say that you are a very lucky person, having waited over a year before seeking treatment for your cancer. Although I did not have radiation, from what I have read, it would be very foolish of you to discontue treatment when you have only 4 more to go.

I feel that I must comment about your reaction to the original oral surgeon's method of telling you the results of your biopsy. I agree that it is always better to tell someone in person when the news is bad, but his motivation possibly was to get the word to you ASAP so that you would be able to start your treatment without delay. His approach however, in no way, was an indication of his ability to treat you.

I wish you luck and hope that you do decide to continue with the treatment plan.

Jerry

Delaying treatments from what seems a fear of them for a year, allowed your cancer to progress to a more advanced stage, one requiring more complex and more difficult treatments. That was a poor decision. Quitting before your treatments are done would be a second one. You are lucky after a years delay to be here at all, and your willingness to so quickly quit when it gets a little tough may have implications in whether or not you are around a year from now. You haven't been around these boards long enough to have watched the deadly toll this disease has taken on people. It seems lost on you that this disease is killing someone in the US every hour of every day 24/7/365. It is unforgiving of delay and more unforgiving of half measures in eradicating it. Did you expect that you would walk through radiation treatments without any side effects? These treatments are brutal, and so far you have been lucky enough to miss the really difficult process that most go through. Now for a little discomfort you seem ready to quit. Perhaps you should read some of the postings here from the many, many people who have struggled in pain and discomfort, emotional turmoil, addiction to opiate painkillers, disfiguring surgeries, inability to eat, speak, and more just to get through their treatments and survive. It might give you a more balanced perspective on how lucky you are... if you let this get away from you right now and it is still there or returns, because of a recurrence of it, or an incomplete treatment, you will have a very different vision of decision making - you won't have any decisions to make. Hard talk... you bet. But you only are going to get one chance to do this.

WOW, every posted message agreed with what my doctor tells me. I went to my rad Dr. on Tuesday and told him how I felt. He said the same as you all are saying that "its amazing that I'm just beginning to have these side effects, especially with this amount of radiation, also whether I continued or quit now, the recovery time & effects would be the same".

He said he'd adjust the beam away from my lips, which were beginning to crack painfully and that he'd like me to restart the following day. I went in on Wednesday and noticed a huge difference. I am thankful.

I really want to let everyone who posted advice, encouragement & "hard talk" that I truly appreciate it. I guess I needed a good talking to and I need to stop being a baby about the whole thing. It seems I'm not as knowledgable about this disease as I thought.

I've read the standard internet perspective of cancer & treatment, but I never encountered a real live board like this one. I am so thankful that I did, I wish I had found it sooner. I've been in the dark about a lot of things and really didn't have any one to talk to about it.

But now that I know you all are here, willing and able to help me, I will continue to read others stories, share my experiences (as I get them) and listen to sound advice. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Cooldown, Glad to see your anxiety reduced and now your more focused on what needs to be done. The great thing about this site is instant access to info from people that have been there. Cancer is an emotional and scientific topsy turvy ride for all of us. This site gives you a hug when you need one and more complex cancer info when needed."Now you don't have to ask your MALE doctor what does it feel like to be pregnant?
Good Luck to you Cooldown and I hope you fall on the scientific side to help offset the emotional crazies like myself.
Mark D.

Cooldown - I'm so glad you got all these wonderful comments and happy that you are doing better. My son also got the news over the phone about his cancer but the doctor did call me first to ask how his emotional state was and where he was and if he was with me. I told him that he had lunch with some friends and seemed in a good state. When I got to my son's house he told me the doctor had called with the news and I felt really badly that I had not been with him but I agree that it's important to know the news soon. And about the effects, my son had all the effects of Rad much sooner than usual and out of 30 total treatments, he has had to take two breaks from the radiation - a one week, and another week and a half break. He has 9 more to go but the doctor started aiming the beam differently and with new pain and nausea meds, he's been doing much better. Just stay in touch with this site and hang in there!

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice regarding dry mouth. Right now my mouth is SOOOOO dry and at night I barely get any sleep because my nose gets all stuffy and then I'm forced to breathe out my mouth which is already dry, then it becomes so dry that if I have to swallow or even move my tounge it feels like razors are in my throat. VERY PAINFUL. I drink lots of water and spend most of my nights attempting to water the dryness. I need help. Is there a decongestant or some type of nasal spray or something that can help me?