Hello all, my dad has a pre op appointment today for half his jaw removed but they said they can’t attach anything due to it not taking so they are just going to fill it and patch it up. Has anyone ever not had the surgery after being advised to have it? He’s been in and out of hospital recently with pneumonia & sepsis but he’s terrified of being put to sleep for a long time Incase he doesn’t wake up. I understand this as we was told last month he was so close to death with the pneumonia as his immune system isn’t good due to previous diagnoses and radiotherapy. Any advice would be great. He had tongue surgery (partial removal) in 2017 so it’s been a while xx
Hello JoJo2210, sorry to hear your dad's cancer has returned, this is the trouble with having radiotherapy first time around. I also had radiotherapy and chemo after my first operation. Like your dad, my cancer returned in my lower jaw but they went ahead with renewing two-thirds of my jaw because it was not affected by the radiotherapy, although a couple of skin grafts had to be redone as they did not take the first time but the new bone did knit with what was left of my old one. I'm sure by patching it will be just as good but in sections.I'm very confident they would not go ahead with putting him to sleep if they thought it was risky, I know we all carry this risk even if we are 100% healthy. After my jaw surgery, I had to have a long operation to have my voice box removed and I coped ok with the being put under, I know I have not had pneumonia or sepsis but he will be closely monitored throughout the operation and afterwards in recovery, I expect he will be put on strong antibiotics straight away like I was. I think they have changed there mind because of the risk of rejection because of the radiotherapy so they have just opted for a better option that will give them a better chance of reconstruction by doing it in sections. I hope this has helped in some way, but please re-post if you need further advice or reassurance, wishing you and your dad all the best, take care.
Chris x
Its sometimes not easy but its worth it !
