Hello Bad_Kitty,

Glad to hear the oxycodone did the trick for you and at least made it so you could get some solid rest.

Sorry to hear that the biopsies all found more cancer spots; on the upside they “found” what was there and can now tailor your treatment plan accordingly.

Ditto with the bacterium they found and the new antibiotic.

Sorry the PET scan lit something in your lungs and they are now doing a biopsy there. Here is hoping it’s just a bacterial colony or something.

I go back to the hospital next Wednesday myself to get another CT guided needle biopsy of my armpit lymph node. Last one was non-diagnostic.

Anywho here is hoping the new antibiotics eradicate all the infection, the oxycodone keeps working well without making you nauseous, your radiation damage keeps healing, the cancer dies, and your treatment plan works great and you tolerate it all increasingly well.

Sincerely,

CQ

So, we have a date for the surgery, December 23. Please think positive thoughts for us!

Hello VCT,

Sorry about the delayed diagnoses in what is causing your sore throat.

The whole work up process is tiring, as they rule various things out.

Only advice I can offer, is just keep sticking with your follow ups until they can give a satisfactory answer, and hopefully a fix.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.....just keep squeking, eventually hopefully someone will grease ya'

Best wishes,

R/
CQ

My dad had his two mandiblectomies surgeries at Boston's Mass Eye and Ear. The surgeons who did his work teach at Harvard Medical School. Highly recommend if you want a second opinion. Dad's first one had an antibiotic resistant infection in the hardware, and then they discovered his cancer came back when they removed the hardware and scraped all the gunk off the bone. So, he had scapular one the second time. Now, he has to have his hardware removed because it's coming through his skin, but apparently that happens when you beat cancer in the long run. I wish you luck and that you find success in your treatments and know that you're not alone.

Well the CT guided Fine Needle and Core Needle Biopsies of my Level 2 Right Axillary lymph node that was PET FDG avid (SUV 5.4 I think) was done.

I thought it went great. Cytotechnologist came down and looked at the FNA aspiration slides in near real time (with the introducer needle still in me, and still laying on the CT table).

Turns out the FNA needle got mostly all blood, some lymph tissue, but insufficient for characterization.

Core needle got all fibrous fatty tissue, not lymph tissue, also a non-starter for pathology.

So a bit of a set back, with more waiting. Its something like a 90% chance the PET avid lymph node is just reactive in my situation (maybe 99%), but would be nice to check that box off definitively and move on one way or another.

I reached back out to my regular ENT Oncology team to see if they need to re-order another attempt, or if Interventional Radiology would automatically call me to reschedule a second attempt.

I said I'd be happy for a 2nd attempt or an excisional biopsy if a surgeon thinks it's a good candidate all things considered.

Will update once there is some more progress/decisions.