A few days ago my lovely husband was diagnosed with mouth cancer in the Retromolar Trigone region. There seems to be very little information on this type of mouth cancer other than medical which use terms which are difficult to understand. Has anyone else had experience of this type of cancer?
We are still trying to process the information we have received from the hospital but regardless we are terrified. They say they cannot tell us the staging at the moment until he has his CT and MRI scans which are next week and then we go back in for the results the following week. The consultant said that on an initial look he cannot feel it in the lymph nodes of the neck but obviously the scans will show what is there for definite. He said whatever the staging the treatment will require a major operation and reconstruction of the area.
We both just feel terrified and are living in this other world. We went for a walk by the sea yesterday to get out of the house but it didn't enjoy it like we normally do. We cannot stop thinking about. No matter how hard we try the mind just keeps going back to the cancer. The first night we didn't really sleep at all. Last night we had a bit more sleep but both of us kept waking up throughout the night.
I need to be strong for my partner but how I am going to get into that frame of mind I have no idea.
I would love to know what anyone else knows about this particular cancer and how they coped.
Thanks to all who can offer some information.
Sorry to appear thick but I thought that's why remove the lymph nodes to stop them spreading any cancerous cells further.
Yes, that too. Eventually a cancer left in a lymph node will grow till it escapes the lymph node itself. It doesn't seed elsewhere.
Staging is done on a TNM format. T size of tumour N number of nodes affected M distant metastasis.
Have a look here
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/mouth-cancer/stages-types-grades/TNM
So they are just looking for evidence in more than two nodes and position. Like I said. Radiotherapy will mop up any they don't surgically remove
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
