SSC cancer,left tonsil,pain after oral surgery

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Hello all, I hope you are all well.Ive been diagnosed with SCC on my left tonsil HPV related a year ago.I had my oral surgery to remove the tonsil and the neck dissection to remove lymph nodes. There was no evidence of cancer metastatic to the surrounding tissues and the lymph nodes. Then I had another surgery 6 months ago to remove  a scar tissue formation on soft palet. I feel pain in the operated area and I m terrified that the cancer came back. I've seen the Ent doctor on the 2nd of October and he said that everything looks ok but there is a significant scarring which may cause pain. He refferd me for the MRI scan to double check if everything is fine. I'm panicking and constantly thinking of this pain and the cancer reoccurrence. Has anyone experienced pain? I've also developed first bite syndrome after the surgery. Thank you.

  • Hi

    It is easy to say, but difficult to do.  Don't worry!  The MRI will give you the definitative answer, but your ENT will be very experienced in these cancers and is almost certainly right.

    I think we all are wary of a return, but in the vast majority of cases it is a false alarm.  I've had 2 reoccurrences and not been aware of either of them.  They were picked up by my ENT on routine follow-up appointments, so if they have had a good look then you are probably OK.  BTW my cancer is somewhat different to most cancer journeys so don't be concerned over my "reoccurrences" being common for us patients.

    I can't help with the pain as generally my mouth/throat settled down well after surgery - the biggest issue I had was a dryish mouth.

    Peter
    See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey
  • Thank you and good luck with your treatment Slight smile