My mom was diagnosed with SCC in August and had re-constructive surgery on September 17th to remove the mandible on the lower right side and replace it with a bone in the left leg. Lymph nodes were also removed however I still haven't had the courage to ask my mom or sister the results of the nodes. She spent 8 days in the hospital. She is now in her 3rd week of 6 planned weeks of radiation. 3 chemo sessions were also planned but after her first, she doesn't plan on having anymore because it had too many side effects. She is eating some foods but primarily eating through her PEG tube.

What upsets me most about the entire process is that it took so long to identify her problem as being cancer. I think it was last April that she knew there was something abnormal going on in her mouth. She went to about 4 different dentists and they each said something like "We need to remove one of the teeth and insert medicine under there." Basically none of the dentists had a clue until the 5th one she went to who finally referred her to an oral surgeon who removed the growth and had it sent to the lab. That's when we found out and after he had removed it grew back to be so much bigger.

I guess I'm here to get some feedback from others who have had a similar surgery performed on them or someone they know. I haven't seen my mom in the last week but she now says that the radiation is giving her some blistering on her tongue. What else can she expect as she continues with the radiation?

-Nick