Hello Arvind

I am so glad you recieved positive news (early detection/stage). You can use the search engine at the bottom of this page, type in "before radiation" or anything similar. There are many articles. I HAVE NOT HAD RADIATION BUT IT IS IN MY TX PLAN. That said, I have READ on this site a lot about it. Try to get Bala extra hydrated before treatment. And during treatment drink and eat as much as possible. If she becomes weak and de-hydrated they may have to re-hydrate(IV). You do not want them to have to stop or delay radiation once it starts. Are they putting in a PEG? (feeding tube) Many here recommend "Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC, it contain 560 calories per 8 oz. serving. They can give you meds to help save the saliva glands. Make sure she takes it if they give it. Some have said it makes them nausious, and some quit taking it. I HAVE ONLY READ THESE THINGS HERE. NO PERSONAL EXPERIANCE. There is a newcomer here who said they are relocating his saliva glands out of the radiation path. I do not know if this is applicable to you Moms treatment. The search engines here are extremely helpful and cancer dedicated. I hope this helps. Best Wishes, Petey

Arvind,

Are you sure they want to do radiation on your mom? Reading your post it seems they removed the BOT tumor and found no mets to the nodes. If that is correct radiation seems a tad drastic at this point. Can you get a second opinion? Unless I missed something I would personally not go for rad with those facts.

Thanks Petey & David..

David,
Yep -Radiation Therapy starts from Saturday.

You have rightly pointed that despite of no lymph node involvement and surgical removal of cancerous tumor -they are going ahead with the radiation therapy.

And I must point out a fact that specialists (oncologists & radiation therapists) have deemed this to be a *precautionary* measure to eliminate all the possibilities of a spread (though none of the tests indicate it as yet). Perhaps, this is the aggressive approach to treatment --OR-- they suspect something "very" microscopic which is not detected from any of the scans/pathology (apologies for my ignorance)..

As I can ascertain from Jeff's comments above -there are patients who have received the radiation therapy till neck even after being diagnosed with no lymph node involvement.. (please take care to correct me if I have misunderstood something).

Any thoughts?

Arvind,
The aggressive approach that your doctors are taking should be applauded, in my opinion. My husband had small cancer found in one lymph node only after neck dissection - was not palpable, did not show up on CT scan, did not show up on PET scan.

Best of luck to you as you make your way through this.
Anita

I agree with Anita. I had no node involvement and my radiation was optional. After talking with many Dr.'s and ROs, it was unamimous. So, I followed their advice and did the radiation. Totally precautionery however, as a result, I sleep better at night.

I'll also add my vote for the agressive approach.

While my cancer was much more advanced, there was no nodal involvement or mets either. The radiotherapy was precautionary, and is a fairly standard practice in cancer centers in Canada for head and neck cancers.

It was very unpleasant...far worse than the surgery that I had (which was extensive; 17 hours) but I've never regretted having it
Wayne

Arvind,

I'm another one who had radiation after surgery, even though there was no lymph node involvement. (My tumor was a Stage II.) There were evidently some aspects of the pathology report that led my doctors to believe there was good reason to take the extra step -- and that was 18 years ago.

Cathy

I also had radiation with no lymph node involvement. And this was no lymph node involvement that was determined by removing and doing a pathology exam of the nodes and it was STILL recommended. My udnderstanding is that when the nodes are not removed and examined, there is a 30% chance that there can be cancer in lymph nodes and it will NOT show up on a CT or from palpitation of the nodes so it is good her doctors are being cautious and assuming she may have cancer in those nodes and recommending radiation.

Nelie

Thanks All -I'm truly obliged & overwhelmed with the responsiveness of you all..

A further question -
On Petey's suggestion -I tried searching the forum for (during & after) effects of Radiation Therapy. Seems like that the behavior depends on how an individual's body responds to it.

Today, my mother called me up from her office. She was quite panicked due to a conversation she had with a (*very* ignorant) colleague who dictated a few hazards of RT. I had to calm her down b'cos I don't want her to start this treatment in a negative disposition..

But can you please suggest something which can be useful during the treatment besides the following?:-
(1) Extra Hydration
(2) Proper nutrition/enough calories
(3) High Spirits!

Also, I could not gain enough information on PEG -is it something used as a support during RT?

Craving for your replies..

Arvind,

A PEG tube is a tubular feeding mechanism that is installed directly into the stomach of the patient. In my case, about 12" of the tube protruded from my stomach. It is capped on the end and is typically taped in place on and around the stomach/chest area when not in use.

The purpose of the tube is to provide a nutritional route to the stomach for the patient while undergoing radiation to the head and neck area. The effect of the radiation around the 3rd week will cause considerable discomfort to the mouth and throat tissue with your mom to where it might become extremely difficult or even impossible for her to take food/liquid by mouth.

It seems that there are differing opinions around the world in head/neck cancer treatment protocol as to whether or not the patient is fitted with a PEG from the beginning. A lot of this may have to do with what one's insurance company will cover also. A fellow patient at the facility treating me had insurance coverage with a particular company that would not cover the cost of the PEG if installed prior to treatment. This patient got to where he could not eat or drink in his 4th week of treatment and the PEG had to be installed. His insurance company covered it under that circumstance but the docs felt as though his treatment may have been compromised for having to suspend treatment for 3 days for the PEG installation.

The PEG was a major nuisance to me but also probably saved me a lot of grief. There was about a 4 week period where I had to get all nutrition and medications via the tube. You will see in reviewing various posts here that some folks made it without a PEG and my hat's off to them. I don't know how they did it but they obviously managed.

Bill D.