The summary: My 54 yr old husband, former pipe smoker, was diagnosed with stage four cancer of the tongue & floor of the mouth back in July of 2002. He had his teeth removed, a bi-lateral neck dissection, 2/3 of his tongue removed, an attempt of reconstruction with an arm flap, and 30 lymph nodes removed from his neck, five of which test positive. He had complications and was in ICU for 2 weeks, and a regular room for another 2 weeks. They finished the 6 weeks of radiation mid-November of 2002. He's lost over 70 pounds so far. Is living on a few cans of Boost or Ensure as he can't manipulate his tongue well enough to get anything solid or semi-solid down. His fatigue is tremendous although his blood work, including a thyroid workup, is fine. He's had difficulty breathing, at times feeling as though his throat was actually closing.
My question is back in October a CT was done as part of the radiation setup. At that time a mass was shown on right side under his jaw. "Probable reoccurance". No one every said anything to us at that time. We found out about it today as we met for the first time with an oncologist. He has had great pain in his cheeks and jawline up to his temple. We figured the pain was due to the massive swelling (lymph fluid). The oncologist ordered another Ct today which showed that the left side is different in appearance and consistency. Shows soft tissue density. Right side shows lower density. His throat has narrowed but does not appear to be in any immediate danger of closing.
My question to this long (sorry) story is has anyone had anything similar? And couldn't the difference in density just be scar tissue? Any suggestions for the swelling and pain which accompanies it? Thanks everyone.