My husband was miss diagnose for a year by an Ent specialist who did vocal chord biopsies scopes scans MRI and on in on he kept saying acid reflex he had also had severe bleeding of his tongue. Finally he was diagnosed with Stage 3 N 2 around Thanksgiving . He has had 2 courses of chemo and Thrush of and on This time his hands and feet swelled up and look almost like burns Any one have this problem? Also are there any survival stories out here with the same base of tonge CA? I just want to keep his hopes up while he goes through all this. Thanks Diane :rolleyes:

Dear Diane,
I was also misdiagnosed by a head and neck surgeon. I went to see her 4 different times because I had a lesion on my tongue that was actually eating my tongue away. She told me that she refused to biopsy my lesion because she was positive it was not oral cancer because I didn't fit the profile. (meaning I wasn't a drinker or smoker) And also she told me my tongue was too sore to biopsy. It took me 5 months to be diagnosed which was in October 2002. I had a partial glossectomy and a modified neck disection and I was also diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer and have recently had my thyroid removed. That was on January 14th. The reason I am telling you this is really sad that many doctor's make mistakes on diagnosing Oral Cancer. They truly need to be educated. I went to 5 different specialist until I was diagnosed. This web site will be a great learning experience for you. Brian Hill who is the founder of the Oral Cancer Foundation is full of accurate knowledge. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me or other Cancer Survivors. We are here to help you and your husband in offering you true information.
There are so many Oral Cancer Survivors. I have learned to be a real advocate of my health care.
Learn to ask many questions!!!

Hi Diane,

Welcome to the board. We have all forms of oral cancer survivors here. Hopefully someone with your husband's type will notice your post and be along soon.
I haven't read anything about hands swelling, I had radiation a year ago and am currently in chemo. I have suffered with extremely cold hands. But, none of my doctors seem concerned.
I would definitely check with his doctor regarding the swelling.
Take care,
Dinah

DQKCK,
My husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 base of tongue cancer May 2002. It doesn't sound like your husband has exactly the same thing because my husband had absolutely no symptoms until one of his lymph nodes swelled to the point of getting noticed. He had radical neck disection to remove the lymph nodes and .5cm lesion on the base of his tongue. Had 33 treatments of radiation with chemo. Good news is 6 months after treatments he's doing fantastic.
I'm curious about your symptoms and treatments. Was chemo the only treatment offered? (My husband had no swelling relating to any of his treatments. A raft of other problems, but no swelling.) Also, where are you going for care? We live in Massachusetts and from your profile, assume you do also. There are great hospitals that can handle head and neck cancer in Boston. We actually could have gone to Boston for treatment but because we live in central Mass., we chose to go to U. Mass Memorial in Worcester. We believe we received great care. Our ENT doc. was fantastic.
It is so difficult to read about people who have been misdiagnosed. This is such a horrible cancer that having treatment delayed because of some incompetent doctor is tough to take. I would almost want to suggest we post the names and/or treatment centers where this has happened. It at least emphasizes the importance of getting a second (or third) opinion. Doctors are not infallible. They are not God. They provide a service. If you are not satisfied, demand better service or go elsewhere. Good luck to you.
BC