[connamarie]

My husband and I just met with a radiation oncologist today. He actually specializes in head and neck and is affiliated with a renown cancer institute. Like others on this post, my husband had a swollen neck, and when we had it checked out it was metastatic scc in the lymph nodes. The ENT and Radiation Oncologist both scoped him and said the primary appears to be the tonsil. The RO also sees it at the base of the tongue, and some in the pharynx. Our PET was earlier today. We were originally scheduled for tonsillectomy, and other biopsies post PET results. The RO is still digesting all of the information, and needs the PET but at this time he (RO) is stating that he feels surgery should not be done, (except biopsies). It appears there is a semantics issue on tonsillectomy and what all is removed. His preliminary recommendation is 3 weeks chemo followed by radiation, then at that point see where we are on surgery needs, and neck resection. Does anyone have any thoughts on this treatment plan? It seems that most of you had surgical removal followed by chemo/radiation combined and then neck if necessary. (I also want to mention that he said if we proceed this way it is extremely important to monitor the tumors while on chemo so they don't enlarge.) Thanks for your input.

[venus20]

Hi Conna,

I would recommend that your husband get a second opinion if he hasn't already. Did the doctor tell him why he would not need surgery? My case was slightly different from his, but my cancer was found in my tonsils and the base of my tongue and my doctor recommended that I get surgery and then Radiation and then Chemo. The difference was that there was no cancer found in my lymphnodes. That could be the reason why they don't want to do surgery. Please look into this as soon as possible if he hasn't already. I do know that once cancer is in the lymphnodes and I don't mean to put a scare in you; it does spread a lot faster. I hope my advise helped a little.

Sincerely,
Carmen

[rbw59]

I was just diagnosed with Head/neck cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Oropharynx cancer. The cancer started in my left tonsil, for some reason I only have the left tonsil, and it spread to the lymph nodes on both sides. My cancer is advanced stage 4, in-opearable. He said I would not survive the surgery it would be so involved.
My Radaition is 35 treatments with Chemo. I am opting for a non standard form of Chemo, that is kind of contriversal. It has a few types of meds in it. I have to have surgery for a feeding tube of sorts that is implanted in the stomach, and a Cath tube in the chest for the chemo and blood tests.
We just have to wait and see what happens with my cancer at the end of treatments.

I hope your husbands cancer is not as advanced as mine. Good luck and God Bless.

Robert

[rbw59]

I have been disabled for about 5 years, i developed RA, Rehumatoid Arthritis, 2 years ago my heart started acting up, speeding up, slowing down, next Pacemaker implant. About 3 weeks ago I noticed a large lump on my left collarbone. I showed to my GI Doc and he said to see my Rehumy Doc, she took xrays and sent me for a CT Scan with contrast of head and neck. They called her the same day which was on a Friday. She called me on same day and said to come in on Monday to discuss the results. The weekend was horrible waiting, but I kind of knew it was going to be cancer. She explained that it was Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the head/neck. She referred me to ENT who looked and did biopsy. Came back positve Advanced agressive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. He said the tumor was in the left tonsil, as I had no right tonsil, and spread to the left lymph nodes then to the right side of neck in the lymph nodes. It is advanced non operable Cancer. Next was this week where I met with surgens to implant port for chemo, to implant the feeding tube, and my Oncologist, who suggested a contreversal cocktail of Chemo, which I agreed to, then sent me to see the Radiologist who said it will take 35 treatments with the chemo, or 7 weeks, 5 days a week.

Well can it get any worse? I hope not, I said that a few years ago and look what happened! I have read about every cancer site on the web, and read all the lit they gave me, it scares me. I really do not want to go thru this stuff, but I do want to live a while longer. I know I am not alone and there are a lot of others out there who have it just as bad or worse. I have lots of people praying for me, and I do have faith in God the Creator.
God said in the Bible that He will walk with us in the valley of the shadow of Death. So I know He is with us.
God Bless everyone dealing with this life threating disease. I pray all will recover.


[quote="rbw59"]I was just diagnosed with Head/neck cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Oropharynx cancer. The cancer started in my left tonsil, for some reason I only have the left tonsil, and it spread to the lymph nodes on both sides. My cancer is advanced stage 4, in-opearable. He said I would not survive the surgery it would be so involved.
My Radaition is 35 treatments with Chemo. I am opting for a non standard form of Chemo, that is kind of contriversal. It has a few types of meds in it. I have to have surgery for a feeding tube of sorts that is implanted in the stomach, and a Cath tube in the chest for the chemo and blood tests.
We just have to wait and see what happens with my cancer at the end of treatments.

I hope your husbands cancer is not as advanced as mine. Good luck and God Bless.

Robert[/quote]

[Bru3ce]

Connamarie,

The situation you have described is exactly what mine is.
Yes, get the scans and the answers.
Head and Neck Cancer usually has a difficult to find Primary.
The procedure is a Radical Neck Disection.
It can involve the tonsils, yes, and also lymph glands and the tongue.
The biopsies provide absolutely definitive results and guide the unique Treatment Plan you and your Oncologist believe in.

Let's keep the conversation going here for our mutual benefit.

Bruce the Cancer Killer
Head and Neck Cancer Survivor