Welcome to OCF! We will help you get thru everything.

You have found the best place to get info and learn about your disease and how its treated. Educate yourself so you know what to expect and how to advocate for yourself. There is so much to do to prepare for treatments.

Best thing you can do is to be treated at a comprehensive cancer center (CCC). At a CCC they will use a team based approach, all the specialist get together to give their treatment plan so everyone is on the same page. At the very least go to one for a second opinion. Very likely your treatment will be surgery with radiation and/or chemo. Just remember whatever specialist you are talking to (when not at a CCC) will always recommend their specialty (surgeons always recommend surgery, RO will always say you need rads, etc). Take your time to read and absorb info from OCF so you are an informed patient and a strong advocate for yourself.

Check out the main OCF pages too. There you will find all the info you are asking about. There are sections for treatment, radiation, etc. Of course we are here to help you along.

Right now you need to focus on your intake. You should be eating everything you like and not worry about gaining weight as you will lose some during treatments. You should get a hearing test, full bloodwork including thyroid and testosterone levels. Line up helpers. Nobody gets thru this alone so anyone who offers to help, write down their name and contact info. Tell them when the time comes you will call on them. Call the American Cancer Society, ask for a driver to take you to rads, and either $300 towards travel expenses or in the form of a pharmacy voucher (its ok to use for co-pays).

Two important things to remember thru all of this are everybody is different and will respond in their own unique way and the only thing you can control is the daily intake. Every single day you needs a minimum of 2500 calories and 48 oz of water.... NO SKIMPING! If you skimps one day and think its ok that you can make it up the next, you are wrong and will quickly fall into a cycle which can lead to dehydration and malnutrition. On chemo days and the few days afterwards push to take in extra water to flush the poison from the kidneys.

When treatment begins, If given cisplatin chemo, pay very close attention to your hearing. If you notice even the slightest change inform the doc immediately. Cisplatin (very common chemo for OC patients) is known to cause high frequency hearing loss which is permanent.

Those are just a few things to start with. We will be here to help you get thru everything. Lean on us and we will support you.

List of Top Cancer Centers


Christine
SCC 6/15/07 L chk & by L molar both Stag I, age44
2x cispltn-35 IMRT end 9/27/07
-65 lbs in 2 mo, no caregvr
Clear PET 1/08
4/4/08 recur L chk Stag I
surg 4/16/08 clr marg
215 HBO dives
3/09 teeth out, trismus
7/2/09 recur, Stg IV
8/24/09 trach, ND, mandiblctmy
3wks medicly inducd coma
2 mo xtended hospital stay, ICU & burn unit
PICC line IV antibx 8 mo
10/4/10, 2/14/11 reconst surg
OC 3x in 3 years
very happy to be alive smile