Hello, I’m a 66 yr old female.. and this is all very new to me. I have never posted about self. But I had 2 mths of radiation on left tonsil . (Tx every day) in 2020 its been4 1/2 yrs. I thought this was behind me, but for the last 2 weeks I have been hacking blood and my left side of throat hurts when I swallow. I’m so afraid that it is back? I’m going to ENT tomorrow morning,

Thank you Paan

Hello,
I’m new here and would like to introduce myself. My name is Sarah, my husband was diagnosed with Oral Squamous cell carcinoma over 2 years ago. After first surgery he has had multiple skin graft failures as well as Radiation. over the course of the last year has had a recurrence that it took months to diagnose. Now after having his last surgery we have been advised his tumor has grown significantly and is no longer operable. He is no longer able to speak or eat. He is severely disfigured and has a trache and feeding tube. He cannot lay flat for radiation and is only left with the option of chemotherapy. At his last oncologist appointment they told us if he doesn’t do treatment he will only have months to live. My concern is what is the success rate for chemotherapy at this stage? I don’t want him to suffer through chemotherapy only to not survive. They are saying that chemotherapy side effects are not that bad, but I’ve never heard of anyone going to chemotherapy and not being nauseous and tired. He is already suffering from pain and fatigue I don’t think he realizes how hard this is going to be for him. He’s trying to keep going for his children and I, but I can’t get over the feeling that he’s not going to be able to make it through this. I know I said I was introducing myself, but as many of you know cancer is my only concern right now. It has consumed my life.

donfoo,
As you already know, dental extractions post-radiation therapy are a risk due to the possibility of developing ORN (osteoradionecrosis) resulting from compromised blood flow to the jaw. My past posts on this topic, document the bad advice that was offered by various dental specialists in our local area. My husband did not get good advice until he consulted a dental surgeon who was part of an oral cancer team at a large NYC hospital.

The OCF pages under dental issues are helpful.
All the best,
travelottie

Congrats, Bill. I'm not far behind you - 15 years out and hanging in. May it continue!

Congrats, Kevin. I also don't visit here much anymore since I'm just recently 15 years out. And like you I have prostate cancer, but mine is still thankfully Gleason 3+3, so no treatment yet.

And yeah - where are Christine and Brian?

David

Hi I’m wondering if anyone has gone through previous HBO treatment and tooth extraction and needs another tooth extraction a few years later. Do you need to have another round of HBO treatments before having the tooth extraction? Thank you for any information.