Hello all,
My name is Judy and I am CG for my husband Jack. Jack had an enlarged LN on the right side of his neck after a sore throat back in March. We didn't do anything initially assuming that the node would subside on it's own (I am a nurse, which explains away the nonchalant attitude!!!!!!!!!). When it didn't subside, we began with our family doc in June and he referred us to ENT who gave us a 90/10% chance that the node enlargement was related to cancer. Indirect laryngoscopy revealed a 3-4 cm mass at or near the base of his tongue/right tonsil. My husband is somewhat unconventional and his initial reaction was to run! He took a week long trip up to Vermont, our favorite place on earth and reflected on his diagnosis. He talked to the folks at Dartmouth and they told him that he needed to get home and get started on his treatment.
Jack, being unconventional, decided that he needed to go straight to the horses mouth, the person who would be staging and directing his treatment. So after some delay, we saw Dr. Roger Anderson at Rex Cancer Center in Raleigh NC. Our diagnosis: SCC at the base of his tongue, Stage III/IVA, T1, N2 unilateral, M0. This dx was made without direct laryngoscopy so we are back tracking a little and having the scope tomorrow. Should the result of the scope be the same as the dx above, Dr. Anderson has given us a choice of Fractionated IMRT with 38 treatments and the last 2 wks will be twice daily vs. 30 IMRT/Cisplatin x 3 doses. Dr. Anderson says that he expects the tumor as well as the nodes to shrink/disappear during the RT but if not then surgery to remove. After reading ALOT about this, I am somewhat concerned that some sites are recommending surgery first followed by RT. Dr. Andersons' response to that is that the RT will not have to penetrate scarring etc making it more likely to shrink/destroy the tumor. I do hope he is right. We both like him and trust him but we will wait until the result of the scope to finalize the treatment plan.
Thank you for allowing us to participate on the OCF site and we will keep you posted on our treatment course.
Judy and Jack