Hi everyone! New to Board...mom battling cancer..
What a great site for people. I want to share a quick story so people out there do get a second, third, or fourth opinion.

My mom has had 3 neck dissections to remove cancerous lymph nodes. Following the 2nd one, the ENT closed her up with cancer surrounding the jugular, carotid and into some muscle mass calling it inoperable. He did not want to continue in case of possible stroke or disfigurement. His report to my dad & sister was that she is stage 4 ca of neck, inoperable and to not bother with a second opinion as no one would risk getting it out surgically. He pretty much said 3 mos to 1 year & get our affairs in order!

We had several doc's agree with this but then went back to an oral surgeon we dealt with in Florida who absolutely disagreed saying he thought he could get it all surgically (possibly sacrificing the jugular vein and muscle). Last week the surgery was done and according to CT scan all the CA was removed surgically (including removal of muscle & jugular). I apologize, I never found out which muscle but the one that helps you shrug your shoulders. Now on to a 5-6 wk course of Cyberknife radiation to "zap" some hot spots on her right side & IMRT therapy for where the surgery was done. Prognosis is good for getting it all for now. Unbelievable turn of events from No Chance to a much better prognosis...so please always get a second (or more) opinion.

I'm not sure if she ever had a primary tumor site identified but there is a compication in this case. We think it started from a condition in her mouth called leukoplakia...worse than that...She has a rare form of it called Proliferative Verrocous Leukoplakia which seems to be not well understood but often turns to cancer. Does anyone have more info. on this condition or what to do about it? She's been doing a nystatin oral rinse and takes betacarotene & selenium (don't know how much) to manage it & keep it from getting worse. Her oral cavity does not have cancerous cells now, she has had precancerous areas removed surgically (I guess this condition IS precancerous all the time).
I feel like I've wrote a novel but also like I've given you a very vague idea of what's going on!! Any comments or info. about the original leukoplakia would be appreciated. And best wishes for all of you I've read about on here!!!