Well, finally I have the info I never knew I had wrong and I got his cancer stage and what type. I thought it was BOT and nope doc says it was a "rare" oral cavity cancer...ok. Ya think I would have heard him say that when first diagnosed? Guess not. I updated my signature. Well found out why he is having that "burning" issue in his mouth, come to find out his jaw bone on the top is dead and pushing out of his gums...nice. So yep, that Hypoberic time for him. Now I got confused cuz doc was talking with resident about this AND kinda to us...don't know if he said surgery first than the Hypo thing or Hypo first and if needed surgery...will know more after he has his CT tomorrow, had a panaramic(sp) yesterday.

Osteoradionecrosis can be very painful. No wonder Ron takes pain meds. Ive had bone slivers poke thru my gum before and it was agony! Poor guy!!!! Hope whatever treatments he needs gets taken care of so he can feel better. Might want to start pushing him to pack on a few pounds just in case. Hope its something that can easily be fixed. HBO is a piece of cake. He might need to get tubes put in his ears before doing HBO. Its dont as outpatient surgery where one day he goes in and home the same day. He might be a little sore from the surgery but the next day he should feel ok. HBO can also affect vision. My eyesight was a mess for a while but it went back to normal soon after finishing my dives.

wow didn't hear that big word Christine, so you had this also? That's the dead bone on top that's what it is called? And the surgery you say is outpatient and not another whole risection again? What do they do? Will they do that before the dives? I guess I can go look that word up. lol
thanks lady!!
Ya no wonder he is miserable huh? But yesterday he "vaporized" a little tiny bit and holy cow that man was an eating machine, he hasn't done it in a very long time and I hate to say it I wish he would do it more often so he does eat, he admitted he felt much better with a full stomach than he does trying to surpress the hunger pains in his stomach because it burns to eat but he now knows why and he is going forward on eating and dealing with the pain.
Ya know what his favorite thing was yesterday? He loves Stewed Tomatoes! He said they were the best(bought them at Big Lots called Best West) tomato soup flavored he ever had and after eating the tomatoes he took a pc of bread took the crust off and buttered the bread and put it in the juice and sucked that down.
He ate some ham salad, a small whole can of stewed tomatoes and bread with butter, chicken paprikash I made Sunday, mac noodles with Ragu Double cheese in a jar, peaches and jello! Now it wasn't huge servings but he ate all that he took. That's how I wish he would eat everyday!! We will see what he does today, he has his CT at 11:15 today. And than we play that favorite "waiting game"

Im talking about if he needs HBO (hyperbaric oxygen treatments) that he probably will first need to get tubes put in his ears. Doing HBO can be hard on an oral cancer patient. Think of it like scuba diving. They take you "down" where the pressure is like scuba diving. The pressure can cause problems with a person's eardrums where they could actually burst. I know my ears would hurt like crazy until I got the tubes placed in my ears. I wasnt able to dive many times when my ears wouldnt 'clear'. Like on an airplane your ears 'pop' with the altitude. Im sorry if my explanations are the clearest! To relieve the ear pressure a patient must swallow or open their mouth very wide to get their ears to 'pop'. I would drink sips of water and attempt to stretch my mouth open very wide. Ive done 125 HBO but I probably missed a good 40 dives due to my ears not adjusting to the pressure. The tube surgery is no big deal, its what I meant about being an outpatient procedure.

Osteoradionecrosis is where the bone deteriorates and dies. That can be very very painful. Its what EzJim has gone thru for years. I dont know how he handled the pain! When my teeth were removed, I would have teeny tiny slivers of tooth left that would work its way up thru my gums and boy did that hurt. I would go to my oral surgeon or even my ENT has helped me with that problem. They would just pull it right out and I felt instant relief. If Ron has osteoradionecrosis and needs surgery, that could be a maxilaectomy(sp) (removal of a piece of his upper jawbone). ****NOTE --- I said IF*** I do not know if thats how far his problem has progressed. It could be a relatively easy procedure with no graft necessary and a short hospital stay of a few days. It could be a very involved process with bone from his leg taken to graft to where the diseased bone is being removed. Mandible is the lower jaw bone and maxilla is the upper one.

One thing I am certain of is that HBO will be the easiest thing he has done. Ron should start to feel great after doing a week or 2 of dives. It will allow his body to rest and breathing pure oxygen helps to make you feel refreshed. I would watch the Sopranos or take naps.

I would suggest that you attend his appointments with him and get clarification as to how involved this is going to be. The doc should have some idea of what is necessary after the CT scan. Hope its not anything too involved.

Good luck!

ok cool Christine I'm on the phone with him and read your post directly to him. Ya IF is what I thought too. Thanks so much Christine!!! Great help lady!

Glad I could help, Sue. Lets hope for the best and that this is easily fixed without a big surgery. The HBO is a piece of cake!

Oh and he loves the darn Soprano's too he actually said he was just watching it yesterday morning! Too funny.