Hello to everybody,
My mother-in-law (age 72) was first diagnosed with oral cancer - tongue cancer in January 2010. She never smoked in her life. In March 2010, she had surgery to remove 1/2 of her tongue. The cancer was found on the right side of her tongue. She did not undergo radiation or chemotherapy. The doctor believed that he removed all the cancer in her tongue and when they did a biopsy of the lymph nodes and did not find any cancer cells.
Last May 2012, she noticed a lesion on her right gum but she did not pay attention to it. She has so overwhelmed about her cataracts that needed surgery. In July 2012 all the issues concerning her eyes were taken cared of. August 2012, she noticed a lump on the lesion on her gums which was a size of a marble. She went to her dentist to have it checked. The dentist advised her to see her oncologist. September 2012, the biopsy of her lesion revealed squamous cell carcinoma. Immediately her doctor request an mri of her face. The MRI showed cancer of her jaws, including some dead bones. With that result, the doctor order a CT Scan of her head and half her body. The CT Scan revealed nodules and micro-calsification on her lungs. A sputum test was done. Result showed no infection, no tuberculosis. The nodules were so tiny that it was impossible to do a biopsy.
October 8 she will have her pre-op and October 10 is her actual surgery. Mother-in-law never recovered physically after her tongue surgery. She is 5'4 and weighs 98 lbs. She has hypertension and an enlarged heart. However, due to the request of her children she is willing to under go surgery. The surgery will entail the removal of her right upper jaw, followed by reconstruction. They will remove part of her leg bone and implant that on her jaws. She will be given a month to recover and heal followed by a series of 33 radiations. Rest then chemotherapy to target the lung cancer cells.
The sad part about all of this is that she lives overseas. She has no medical insurance. The children are doing everything to shoulder all the expenses. God is good they will be able to do this.
We are hoping that she will survive the surgery and proceed with her medical treatment. Thank you for reading my post.
