My Mom will be starting rad. in a couple of wks. The Erbitux only shrunk the HPV...new tumor in her sinus and 2 more new spots on bottom gum line/lip & on inside cheek near lip. The cancer also went thru the roof of her mouth. So, last apptmnt was a real downer. Had hoped at 87 she'd only have to do the Erbitux. The skin on her forearms is darkening & her palms are peeling. No acne rash & from previous posts in other areas, learned that Erbitux wasn't the miracle drug we'd hoped for & I guess it didn't really work. Am glad to be able to come here & learn now what the radiation will do. Drs don't tell you about the mucositis, & haven't mentioned much other than there are good pain drugs. Wish my other fam members would come & read these posts. I tell them what we might expect & they just kind of say...oh...ok. Well, at least I have an idea what to expect so maybe there won't be too many surprises. Prayers for all here. Jane

Hi Jane, if your Mum is given pain medications, make sure she has something to prevent constipation or at least discuss this with her doctors. It may not happen to her, but it happens to many. It would be great to avoid this if you can. It is distressing if you are going through radiation which is challenging, to then have to manage something which could have been avoided.
I really feel for you and your family. Very best wishes to you and your Mum. Linda

Hi there are they talking about giving radiation and cisplatin? If so that will hopefully work - there's another post in this forum just above this thread talking about Erbitux and its benefits and or lack there of. Apparently Erbitux only works on certain people. Where as I belive cisplatin works on most... (though hearing and neorpathy can be factors for some) it seems fairly aggressive hopefully they will move quickly into radiation and not let it progress any further. Blessings to you all.