Hi there, I haven't visited the board for some time, as my hubby was doing so well...until now. Initially he was diagnosed with cancer in his neck (secondary). He had a radical neck dissection, had 36 lymph nodes removed, his jugular vein, saliva gland, neck muscle. Cancer showed in only one lymph node. While the doc was doing the op he went searching for the primary which had not shown on any of the scans. He did a biopsy of the base of his tongue and it was pre-cancerous. His surgery was in March 2005. He commenced radiation in May 2005 - 33 sessions - No chemo. (we do it differently in Australia for some reason). He was going extremely well, lost 22kg, but put on 11kg since, didn't have to have a peg tube. Now 18 months later the primary has presented itself as an ugly ulcer at the base of his tongue. The surgeons are talking about removing part of his tongue, part or all of his larynx, the flap that stops food from going down into the lungs. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar operation, and the results. We've been told chemo would only be palative action. Any help would be extremely appreciated. Does anyone think there is another option. He can't have any more radiation as he is fully radiated. Please, please help.
Sue