Hi One and All
Just to let you know we had face2face yesterday. The Surgeon who did the Op (and is the head of that team) saw us. He recapped all that happened during the Op, why's and wherefore's of what they had to do etc. He also discussed with us the reasoning behind the need for immunotherapy treatment, where it had spread to outside of lymph nodes.
He was very open-minded and agreeable to our objections to being passed back to the local hospital for immunotherapy treatment and is supporting referring hubby to Christies for them to deal with this aspect of his care.
He answered/ discussed questions hubby had and we are to stay under there overall care and he also made appointment for 8 weeks time for a review.
Thanks to Raz, LindaWT and Mand450 for your helpful comments. Perhaps there were crossed wires that are now sorted out.
Not out of woods yet as I know Christies has a backlog of patients and it is up to them to prioritise. Without treatment best guess surgeon could give, based on the way the cancer was behaving that he saw with surgery, is that within six months it would be back as tumour or tumours and that dependent on where it was there would be very little options available.
One thing that we have learnt, and to our cost, is that SCC (with or without HPV+) is classed as an aggresive cancer and if the lymph nodes in his neck had been removed at the same time as the tonsil tumour then followed by radio/chemo that it may not have returned and I personally think that that is something all head and neck patients need to be aware of.
On a lighter note for now hubby is at home, recovering and has some hope for the future.
Take Care All, Stay Safe
BrandyGirl
So sorry that you and your husband have been through so much turmoil but pleased there is hope with immunotherapy
OPSCC is indeed an aggressive cancer and for some people recurrence is inevitable because that aggression has spread the tumour distantly before symptoms appear.
Neck dissection as far as I’m aware , canvassing quite a few fellow sufferers and the discussions they have had with their consultants, is not standard procedure any more, being reserved for salvage surgery.
Lots of people haven’t had neck dissections and are alive and well.
So each case is different.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
