| | Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | OP  "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 | Thank you Nelie : )
She appears to be fine and yes, we both got some well needed rest over the weekend and took a wonderful walk near Walden Pond in Concord, MA on Sunday. Today during my chemo infusion, she went to the Museum of Fine Arts for lunch and a Winslow Homer exhibit.
Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,128 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | | Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,128 | [quote=margaret_in_ma]I am being good about doing my swallowing exercises though and I thank this forum for telling me how important that is.[/quote]
Don't forget to also do the mouth opening exercises and plenty of neck rolling in all directions to keep that stuf from getting too fibrous -- A PT taught me that you can turn your neck as far to one side as possible whilst looking more or less straight ahead, but then look to that side and you get a few more degrees.
Post-radiation, it snuck up on me that I was having trouble getting into car seats unless I tilted my head exactly right because it wouldn't fold back.
Age 67 1/2
Ventral Tongue SCC T2N0M0G1 10/05
Anterior Tongue SCC T2N0M0G2 6/08
Base of Tongue SCC T2N0M0G2 12/08
Three partial glossectomy (10/05,11/05,6/08), PEG, 37 XRT 66.6 Gy 1/06
Neck dissection, trach, PEG & forearm free flap (6/08)
Total glossectomy, trach, PEG & thigh free flap (12/08)
On August 21, 2010 at 9:20 am, Pete went off to play with the ratties in the sky.
| | | | | Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 | Hey Pete!
Mouth stretching, swallowing, jaw stretching all being done - but I haven't been given any neck exercises and its definitely getting tight. I have a follow up appointment with my MO team next week and was going to ask about it. The nurse practitioner did say something last week about PT for the lymphedema happening under my chin as well.
Thank you for the reminder!
Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 794 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 794 | ASK first before you do anything that someone here suggests, but my surgeon, in addition to the mouth-opening exercises (therabyte, but also stretches...I still do them, many times a day) he also told me to massage my neck where the dissection was done....and he said to do it vigorously, so that the top skin didn't scar down and become tight...to break up fibrous development. OF COURSE you must ask first...and I was not comfortable doing it at first, but I did it....use some nice facial cream so that your hands slide....and now my neck is just as pliable on that side as on the other. Of course, there is no fat on that side (and plenty on the other side, sorry to say!), so I can feel all the interior structures, but nothing is taut, and I am thankful that he told me to "really get after it." (a fairly un-professional instruction, but I did "really get after it."
Colleen--T-2N0M0 SCC dx'd 12/28/05...Hemi-maxillectomy, partial palatectomy, neck dissection 1/4/06....clear margins, neg. nodes....no radiation, no chemo....Cancer-free at 4 years!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 794 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 794 | also, of course, the neck turning, and tilting your head all the way back and stretching with your jaw to stretch your neck tissues....
Colleen--T-2N0M0 SCC dx'd 12/28/05...Hemi-maxillectomy, partial palatectomy, neck dissection 1/4/06....clear margins, neg. nodes....no radiation, no chemo....Cancer-free at 4 years!
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