New Cancer diagnosis

Hi good luck you’ll be fine. As Markel says many of us are/were fairly fit. The month before my diagnosis I was cycling 100 km a day . Cancers never fair I just accepted  that mine was curable and am now back to same levels of fitness. Not bad for a 64 year old ! Lol. Ps I’m not a fast cyclist do it for pleasure. But by time spring comes round you’ll be hitting the roads if not earlier. Just listen to your team. Yes Peter will pop on. 
Keep in touch Hazel

I had a neck dissection at the same time as they removed the tumour from the base of my tongue.

It sounds pretty drastic but honestly, the scarring has cleared up so well you can barely see it now.

You may well find the side of your face, ear and neck is numb for some several months after the surgery as the surgeon has to move a lot of nerves etc about and some of them get damaged.  A lot of the feeling has now returned but my ear, some of my face and my neck are still numb although I've got used to it now.

I also couldn't raise my arm out to the side for several months but that's all fine now - just not as strong and can be uncomfortable.

Hopefully you'll be given some exercises to do 4 days after the surgery.  These are to help keep your neck and shoulder supple.  I had physio for about 18 months to help with my shoulder and neck.  Neck and shoulder exercises should be continued for life.

Some people get lymphoedema afterwards too which can be managed by massage but I was lucky in this respect and didn't have any problems.

Wishing you all the best with your surgery.

Linda x

Hi RacingDad and welcome.  Danni tagged me about the neck dissections.  I've had 2 thus far and all my lymph nodes on the right hand side removed. 

Generally I found them easy to recover from.  They sound terrible and looking on Google (don't!!) will show you some terrible scars.  My surgeon suggested that those scars are the result of using old techniques.  Certainly you have to look for my scars.  They hid them in folds in my neck - benefits of a double chin!!

10 days or so should see you feeling much better.  You will probably spend a night in hospital and have a drain in. 

There can be some lasting side effects.  Ask your surgeon about them.  Physio greatly helped me to recover and gain back movement that was lost (there are lots of nerves that control your shoulders and upper chest where they do the dissections).  After 18 months or so I realised that I was essentially back to normal.  Despite all the warnings given by theme parks I've just come back from Universal Studios in Florida and my neck stood up well to the roller coasters!  The rest of my body - well let's just say I don't act my age and regretted it !!

Don't skimp on the pain killers.  Take all they give you - although I barely felt the dissections as they had a go at my tonsils at the same time...

Not sure how much the parotidectomy is going to impact on what I've said.  You will certainly have a loss of saliva - but I also got that from the dissections.  Hopefully getting to the parotid will not significantly increase the scar.

Good luck and, as a final point - get out of bed ASAP and take some light exercise as you will be amazed at how much it helps speed recovery.

Hi All,

So I had surgery on Friday and am currently recovering in hospital. I’ve got a couple of drains in which should hopefully be removed soon and then home. Feeling pretty numb & ropey which surgeons have said is to be expected, but otherwise they were fairly happy with how the surgery went. Now it’s a case of being positive, recovering and then seeing what’s next after the tumour has been analysed.

Had a bit of time on my hands so been listening to an audiobook called “Cured” which talks about how some people have made amazing recoveries from diseases with eating and lifestyle changes. I thought I was doing the right things already but maybe I can do more. Has anybody else got a view on this?

Merry Christmas 

Phil

Peter is right. Surgeons nowadays make a much better job of minimising the scarring. A year on and you’d have to look very closely to see my dissection scar, which runs from the base of my ear to almost my Adam’s apple. I was quite alarmed straight after the op as I had a very droopy lip, water spurted out of my mouth like a fountain if I tried to rinse my teeth and if I drank a drink too quickly it poured out of my nose! However, these things all totally cleared up within three months. 

I still have a numb shoulder blade and my neck still gets tender at times but it now looks normal. The worst thing is the itching I get from time to time. I can’t scratch it as my neck nurse tells me I’m now susceptible to cellulitis if I break the skin, having had the RT. But keep up the exercises they give you, keep it moisturised and massage your neck regularly. All these things will help with your recovery.  

Hi Phil glad you’re on the mend hopefully home soon. Haven’t  read the book so can’t comment . Just do what makes you comfortable from previous post you’re quite fit to start with. Remember not all cancers are lifestyle influenced if that makes sense. 
keep in touch Hazel 

Glad your surgery went well Phil.

I agree with Hazel.  Not all diseases/cancer are based on lifestyle or eating.  I lived an incredibly healthy lifestyle and was the last person that everyone thought would get a cancer diagnosis.  Sometimes these things just happen. 

I wish you all the best with your recovery - hope you're home soon and have a great Christmas.

Linda x

Phil

My view of lifestyle and healthy eating is heresy!  You are what you have been up until now.  You can't go back and change that.  Undoubtably some things are the results of lifestyle choices - smoking, eating, drinking with the well know diseases.

 My personal view as an averagely fit 60+ yo is I could maybe change my lifestyle and gain a few extra months of life, but at what expense.  Carrot juice rather than an occasional good claret...  Low carb diet rather than enjoying the occasional fish and chip supper.  I could be miserable and gain a few low quality of life months extension on my time on Earth.  Or I can be sensible (the key is sensible) and enjoy life, maybe a shorter one, but a happier one!

As I said... Heresy; and I am going to enjoy my third Christmas dinner since diagnosis