I am new to the site and to to the world of cancer.I'm a 58 year old male who hasen't smoked since I was a teenager and not a heavy drinker - one or two vodka's a week. My problem started 30 days ago when a lump appeared on my neck. After a needle biopsy was done I was scheduled for surgery last friday. Before the actual surgey began they discovered the cancer on the back base of my tongue and did not complete the surgery. The new recomended course is combination chemo and radiation which I will begin this friday. Everything is happening so fast I haven't had much time to think. Any words of wisdom out there would be appreciated.

Hello Len and welcome,

It's a good thing you found this site before starting treatment...it will be a tremendous support to you. Some of us only found it after, and just wish we would have had the information and caring that being here offers.

Words of wisdom are beyond me, but it would probably be a good thing if you were to use the search on the main site and learn as much as you can about what you are about to experience. You must be your own best advocate. The search on this message board also will bring up tons of opinions and things each of us have experienced.

Look around; ask questions and again welcome to a club none of us wanted to join, but it has some really great members. (and I used to say I didn't wantto be a member of any club that would have me as a member)

Take care,
Dinah

Hi Lenny,
Reading your post was like de ja vu. My husband had the same symptoms only he had the neck dissection before they discovered the base of tongue cancer. Don't forget to get to the dentist to get your teeth checked and check with your Dr. about a peg tube. I know starting the treatments are of utmost importance but haste could cause problems down the line. My husband finished his chemo and radiation treatments 3 weeks ago and is doing pretty well. Keep posting so we can help you along the way. Take care.
Wendy

Wendy & Dinah

Thanks for your kind response. It is great to connect to people who care and have been there!
Not happy to join this club but real happy it exists. I have read most of the info on the site over the last 24 hours and have learned a lot. I have my first session with the oncology group at Temple University Hospital tomorrow so I guess I will get my marching orders at that time. I have been really impressed withe the time, effort and expertise demonstrated on this siteand the fact that so many people care to help others. Maybe I will learn a lot more than cancer on this journey. Thanks again and I'm sure i'll have more specific questions as the process begins.

Len,
My situation was pretty similar to yours. I was 54, hadn't smoked since high school and rarely drank, but found a tumor at the base of my tongue and neck nodes making me stage IV. Last year was a very tough, but not unhappy year. I went through all the radiation with a dose of chemo, had the PEG tube for 10 months...all the usual stuff, with some extended swallowing problems.

However I am here to report to you that now I feel so good that I almost feel guilty about it, especially when I read about the tough times that many folks here are going through. I have gained most of my lost weight back, my color has returned, my energy is good, and life is good. So what if I can't eat steaks or chocolate chip cookies...I get by fine on the stuff that I can eat and frankly, don't miss the stuff that I cannot eat.

So hang in there guy. When times were hard I got more support and understanding from the people on this board than from any other place...especially the hospital. Welcome aboard, keep us posted as to your treatment and progress, and know that for most of us this passes and life goes on, even if not exactly as before.

Danny G.

Hi Len, Stay stronger than cancer. You are alive, and that is the only place you need to be to start. I am a 32 year old woman who was diagnosed in january with scc of lateral tongue. Wow, a woman, a 31 year old healthy woman. The doctors don't see this much. In feburary i had 30% of my tongue removed with a selctive neck disection. I thought i was good to go, well in june it was back. I found a lump in my neck, it had spread to the lymph nodes very aggressively, the doctors didn't even think i would be able to have surgury because it was growing so fast. Well i just had a radical left neck disection on thursday. Needless to say i stay very positive and don't listen to what the doctors say very much. So far they have been wrong a lot. And when they are they say it is because of my age that i am able to bounce back so quickly. Little do they know that a positive attitude, a will to live and knowing god do move mountains. Before surgery i went through 7 weeks of radiation, location was cheekbone to chest front, back, left and right because it was so aggressive and i am so young. I also had chemo for two sessions, first session was first day of radiation. I had 3 hours of cysplatin then a continuous stream of other chemo for 4 days straight through my hickman catheter. Then about the 4th week of radiation i got my second dose. The nurses kept saying your hair will fall out--i kept saying i am gonna keep it. I kept it, the place it fell out was underneath from the radiation... I told myself that the chemo juice was the light of God and how can the light of God make you sick? Don't get me wrong the second round was a little tougher due to the amount of radiation i had already received. I am 2 months out and doing great, i love my life. I love my family and i am planning to stick around. I would love to help you out with anything i can. I am not sure how much info you would like. Make sure to get a cool air humidifier, drink lots of water-it is great for the skin and get yourself some Resource Support. It is a specialized high enery, high proten drink for people with cancer. It helps promote weight gain, helps build muscle, helps strengthen the immune system and is 360 calories. When it is just awful to swallow and even when it isn't this stuff is great for you. I will be watching for your response and praying for you. Remember that the human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.

Marcy

Hello Len,
I will be praying for you as you begin this fight!
My husband, diagnosed July, 2003 with tongue cancer, surgery, dissection and he is doing very well here in October. It is such a shocking thing to have happen, but I can say that it does a lot for really living life and realizing what is truly important such as family.

Marcy - what a positive message to Len. I learn so much from reading posts such as yours. I have lived the last months being very fearful, and I am trying to give it all to God and get some peace. Thanks!!

Hi debbie, god doesn't comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters. Being a caregiver is an amazing thing to be, having someone who understands is a great blessing for ourselves. Being someone who understands is a great blessing to others. You are a blessing. Make sure to take good care of yourself, just as you have taken such good care of others. God loves us so much and wants the best for us. We are all so special in gods eyes. We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other.

This is such a good site for the needed support. I rarely post but my husband had surgery in Feb. 2003 for tonsil, base of tongue and soft palate cancer. The surgeons rebuilt his jaw and used skin from his forearm for the grafts in his mouth. He also had 33 treatments of radiation. It has been quite the journey but at the present time he is doing well and I base it on his great attitude and faith. We still have a long ways to go but hanging in there. Someday I hope he can eat better, all he can do now is drink and eat some creamed soups. Some patients can not even do that so I am thankful for what he can do. Good luck and stay in touch, it helps.
Becky (wife of David)
P.S. I noticed "boc wife" is from Los Angeles and I would like to email her as to where her husband was treated. We are from Orange County in CA.

Becky, when people fill out the registration to use the board there are a variety of check boxes that allow them to have the "degree" of contact they want with other people. Some for whatever reason do not want the link which lets people email them turned on, some won't even let the foundation email them. some won't allow private messaging, a service of the message board that keeps your conversation with another member within the board but private. The person that you wish to email has made these kinds of selections. Some people are afraid if they put their email address out there ( you have to clck a slection to contact them through it) they willl get tons of junk mail. The foundation does not share anyones information or email address with any other organizations, companies, or anyone else... believe me I know what a nightmare tons of spam is, and the foundation would never let that happen to our participants. But people must have their reasons for shutting of this function of the board. Even as the board monitor, I can not write to them.....hopefully they will read your post and contact you directly or choose to turn on the email address function of their profile so that people can talk with them privately.