Head and Neck Cancer

[Colin]

I have been diagnosed with Squamous cell cancer of the neck with unknown primary site. I had a tumour in my neck removed. Then I had a pet scan that failed to show a primary site. My doctor has told me I need radical neck surgery. Has anyone undergone this procedure?

[venus20]

Hi Colin,

I had a different type of surgery back in 2007 in which was to remove my left tonsil as I had cancer in that whole area. The surgery was major. They had to open me like a book. I don't know how they would have your surgery done, but maybe if you go to the website www.webmd.com you can find out a lot of answers there about your condition, surgery and the treatments for it. This website provides a lot of unanswered questions for a variety of different conditions.

Good luck with your surgery and may you overcome your condition.

Carmen

[Colin]

Thanks for your note. Can you tell me a little more about how you did following the surgery and how you are doing today. Do you have pain or numbness in your neck? I have also heard that sometimes there is limited shoulder movement follow surgery.

[venus20]

Hi Colin,

Yes I did have numbness in my throat area and I still do till this day and I had neck and shoulder limited movement after the surgery for several weeks, but I can move my neck and shoulders easily now. I am doing much better now than I was back then. I also had to get Radiation and Chemo therapy after surgery, so I was very weak for another several months. I also have numbeness in my left side of my mouth area. I was hospitalized for two weeks and my recovery took at least another two months due to the treatments of Radiation and Chemo. The damages of the treatments are what I am going through now. One is the hives and the other is dry mouth. I hope you don't have to go through that. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best Regards.
Carmen

[connamarie]

[quote="venus20"]Hi Colin,

I had a different type of surgery back in 2007 in which was to remove my left tonsil as I had cancer in that whole area. The surgery was major. They had to open me like a book. I don't know how they would have your surgery done, but maybe if you go to the website www.webmd.com you can find out a lot of answers there about your condition, surgery and the treatments for it. This website provides a lot of unanswered questions for a variety of different conditions.

Good luck with your surgery and may you overcome your condition.

Carmen[/quote]

Hi Carmen,
My name is Conna and my husband is Michael. I noticed you shared a lot on this forum, and I was wondering if you would be kind enough to answer some questions for me. I posted a question about treatment options the other day and got no responses. (We have found out a lot more since I posted, and I understand things a teeny bit better now, but could use someone with much more expertise and personal experience to talk to.) My personal e-mail is [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed]. I have a spam blocker on, and it may say you need to request to be added, but I will add you automatically when I see it in the spam folder if you subject it as Carmen or cancer. If you feel comfortable responding, I/we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Conna

[venus20]

Hi Conna,

Your email address was removed, so I won't be able to write to your email address, but please feel free to ask me whatever questions you have and I will answer to the best of my knowledge. I look forward to helping you in anyway I can.

Sincerely,
Carmen