I am 86 years old and have just been diagnosed with buccal gingiva invasive SCC. Two years I had this same area lasered and told it was pre-cancerous. They want to remove a section of my upper jaw with five teeth and make a dental obdurator.
I am not interested in living forever so I am wondering whether or not to do anything. I so enjoying singing in 3 groups and the possible loss of that enjoyment would be a great blow to me. I won't be able to take care of myself forever and, in my experience as an RN,it will be difficult to get good care if I can't do it myself.

Am I wiser to let it eat me or try and eat it?
What is it like to wear an obdurator?
Have you heard of anyone at my age undergoing treatment?
The doctors act like of course I'm going to have the surgery.
They are not proposing any radiation or chemo at this time.

Granianni,

I don't have any answers for you, but you have come to the right place. I am also new and this board has been invaluable. Keep the faith.
Sandy

Hello and welcome. Unfortunately, like Sandy, I can't offer any answers on a solution but you will get answers from some of our "heavy hitters" who we all want in our corners if or when this ugly thing raises its head again in our lives.

Hang in there and keep posting to all of us to let us know how you're doing and what plan is the one you're going with.

An obturator is easy to live with. It is like an upper denture that fits in your palate. I simply seals off the mouth from anything above it. No one knows that you have it, and you take it out and brush it like a denture as well.

Oral cancer is not a disease that you want to have run its course. Those that are lucky have a quick met to the brain, others it is slow, painful, difficult process. Don't even have this thought. This is not the choice that you want to make.

You likely have lots of good miles left on the odometer, people who you care about, and who care about you, who would love to have you around for sometime to come. If the outcome of all this is you have to have an obturator after a surgery, this is a better outcome than many have.

Hi granianni,

Sorry you are here. My mom is 88 and also loves to sing. I know from what I have learned on these forums that oral cancer can be a horrific end of life scenario. You sound like a tough person, like my mom. I would not want to see her endure her final days dying from OC.

As Brian said, "An obturator is easy to live with." I believe we have a couple of people on these boards who have obturators and still are active singers. Some of the veteran posters here might be able to give you more information (help me out here, guys).

You said, "Am I wiser to let it eat me or try and eat it?"

Don't TRY and eat it: EAT IT!!!

Best of thoughts to you.

Welcome to OCF. I will attempt to help you with some of your questions.

First, age is just a number. While you are not a young girl, you come across as very intelligent and up to date. Sure the younger people will bounce back faster than someone who is older. It doesnt mean that you cant get thru this surgery and recovery. No, its not easy but it can be done. The oldest person I can think of that had chemo and radiation was aprox 92. Surgery is not easy either but is different to recover from than chemo/rads.

Several OCF members have resumed their singing careers after being treated.

Ultimately it is your choice to be treated or not. I am hoping you give it a shot. Dying from oral cancer is not a pleasant way to go.

Do you have family or friends nearby who would give you some help? Most insurances will pay for a visiting nurse. Ive had many of them over the past few onths, 95% of them were excellent. You may even qulaify for a home health aid to help with other daily things like laundry, groceries, cleaning. Since you are active in 3 singing groups, there should be several people who offer to help you. Take them up on it. Make a list of everyone who offers to help and keep it handy for when you need it. Dont feel guilty either, people want to help and usually dont know how.

Hope Ive been helpful. Best of luck with your decisions.

I am 74 and just buying another home. I enjoy everyday of my life and still try to sing and make the most of everything. Yes you are older then me but I am going to do my best to make 100. I live alone and do every thing for myself and even my trips during treatments were mostly alone. Get that attitude going that you are going to live a few more years and think of reasons why you should including being with relatives that can make you smile and be happy. get a nmindset that you can and want to sing and keep doing it. Iknow most of the words and some of the voice ranges are hard and hurt at times, but do the singing anyway and think of the words to the songs and what they mean to you and youe life. My words are sincere but I have no other way of oralizinfg them. I put words down as they come to me and the way that most peple can understand.

Hello Granianni:
Heck, you might be 86, but you sound like you still have a lot of life left in you, you're active, and enjoy your singing groups and probably a lot of other things. When you read about others here that have had the same procedure you're going to have, there doesn't seem like any reason why you can't still continue with what you enjoy. If you were the type person who just sat around and moped, I could understand what you said about not fighting this battle. I think you can do it! So there, DO IT! My Mom was 87 (but looked and acted like she was 77) when she died of colon cancer, which was misdiagnosed a year before, which left her no choice of fighting for her life. You have one, and we want to hear that you're going to be a fighter. Okay?
julieann

Go to the search box in the upper right corner of each forum page and look for posts by August, who uses an obturator and who also sings (still). You can also find her through the User List at the top of each page.

Once you find one of her posts, click on her name to get her profile information (including her e-mail address) or a link to send her a private message. She has been very helpful in the past to people whose circumstances are similar to yours.

This is the best place around for information and support.

I was diagnosed one year ago (June 11) and almost have a year behind me with the obturator. I couldn't sing before my surgery, so I can't answer the question regarding how it has effected my singing. I am not sure that it has made it any worse. I do talk for a living though and have not had to miss any work, even with going through radiation. There are some inconveniences, I definately eat differetly. You can learn to live with it, but the key is you are living.