| | Joined: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,267 Likes: 4 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,267 Likes: 4 | Best of luck with everything!
10/09 T1N2bM0 Tonsil
11/09 Taxo Cisp 5-FU, 6 Months Hosp
01/11 35 IMRT 70Gy 7 Wks
06/11 30 HBO
08/11 RND PNI
06/12 SND PNI LVI
08/12 RND Pec Flap IORT 12 Gy
10/12 25 IMRT 50Gy 6 Wks Taxo Erbitux
10/13 SND
10/13 TBO/Angiograph
10/13 RND Carotid Remove IORT 10Gy PNI
12/13 25 Protons 50Gy 6 Wks Carbo
11/14 All Teeth Extract 30 HBO
03/15 Sequestromy Buccal Flap ORN
09/16 Mandibulectomy Fib Flap Sternotomy
04/17 Regraft hypergranulation Donor Site
06/17 Heart Attack Stent
02/19 Finally Cancer Free Took 10 yrs
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2013 Posts: 54 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2013 Posts: 54 |
48 yo female, quit smoking 4yrs ago, light drinker, Stage 2 SCC, Bx3, Dx 8/22/13, surgery 9/11/13. Partial glossectomy, bilateral neck dissection levels 1-4. Tongue reconstruction with flap from forearm. 87 Lymph nodes CLEAR. Tongue margins good at 1 cm. No further treatment planned. Monthly monitoring planned for upcoming year then periodic monitoring for next 4
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2012 Posts: 14 Member | | Member
Joined: Dec 2012 Posts: 14 | We went through the same thing. Hubby was first diagnosed in Nov 2012, he had surgery at the end of Dec 2012. Then a few rough months with chemo/rads, but he worked thru it all (all except 3 weeks after surgery).
My advice (worth about 2 cents) is to review this forum, there is TONs of good advice. The one thing I did as a caregiver was purchase a high powered blender and got the entire family on smoothies.. ya know fresh fruits/veggies & protein powder. Whenever the doc's indicated that he may have a 'symtom', I added an ingredient to my 'mix'.. Nausea - fresh ginger, mouthsores - yogurt, low iron - raisin/prunes... you get the idea.
Stay positive!
Last edited by jo94403; 08-29-2013 10:01 AM.
Joanna - caregiver (spouse) Init bio 11/12, gloss/neck dis 12/12, rad/cisplatin - 6 wks 2/13
"The most important thing is to keep the most important thing, the most important thing."
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 381 "OCF Canuck" Platinum Member (300+ posts) | | "OCF Canuck" Platinum Member (300+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 381 | Your surgery is the same as mine - I was back to work in 3 weeks, less a day.
Today, most can't tell that anything happened in terms of my speech.
Stay strong!
Tina
Diag: Aug. 13/12
T3N0M0
50% + glossectomy and bilateral radical neck dissection, removal of nodes zones I - V
Surgery October 11/12
Chemo/rad on hold due to clear margins and nodes
Sept 21/13 clear CT with anomaly thought to be the artery, being watched closely.
Dec 16/13 - anomaly confirmed artery, all clear
nickname: "get 'r done"
Plans: kick cancer's butt
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2013 Posts: 54 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2013 Posts: 54 | Tina,
That is encouraging. I'm planning for 4-6 weeks off but would LOVE to get back to my students in 3 weeks! Could you talk well after 3 weeks? Teaching requires talking for about 7 hours a day...is that reasonable with a reconstructed tongue with a forearm flap?
48 yo female, quit smoking 4yrs ago, light drinker, Stage 2 SCC, Bx3, Dx 8/22/13, surgery 9/11/13. Partial glossectomy, bilateral neck dissection levels 1-4. Tongue reconstruction with flap from forearm. 87 Lymph nodes CLEAR. Tongue margins good at 1 cm. No further treatment planned. Monthly monitoring planned for upcoming year then periodic monitoring for next 4
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 381 "OCF Canuck" Platinum Member (300+ posts) | | "OCF Canuck" Platinum Member (300+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 381 | My surgery was Oct 11, and I was in court on October 31. As a litigator all I do is talk. My voice was pretty rough (I sounded like the godfather), but I was understandable as long as I didn't try and talk too fast. Everyone is different though.
You have to pay attention to your body. I started back half days, as I got tired easier. I am a firm believer that all the talking I did helped in getting my speech back to normal. Make sure you have speech therapy set up. It was very helpful to get past the sounds and words that I had trouble with as you have to retrain the tongue to do what it did without thinking before.
Tina
Diag: Aug. 13/12
T3N0M0
50% + glossectomy and bilateral radical neck dissection, removal of nodes zones I - V
Surgery October 11/12
Chemo/rad on hold due to clear margins and nodes
Sept 21/13 clear CT with anomaly thought to be the artery, being watched closely.
Dec 16/13 - anomaly confirmed artery, all clear
nickname: "get 'r done"
Plans: kick cancer's butt
| | |
| Forums23 Topics18,284 Posts197,225 Members13,429 | | Most Online2,386
Nov 19th, 2025 | | |
This is another custom island. This one could be used for ads. This spot is one of the best places for ads on your site to be placed. This can be enabled/disabled on a per forum basis.
| | |
|
