God bless him & keep him from harm. He has been through the wringer. My cancer came back & I had surgery in Oct 2015. They took a strip out of my leg from my thigh to my knee & put in my face/neck. The cancer was between my ear & my brain. They took the jugulars on the left side, scraped my brain stem, and cut my vagus nerve (hence the paralysis). They did something to my jaw. I think they broke it. There is all kinds of hardware in there now. I am very uncomfortable most of time. I find the Marinol helps with the discomfort & what pain I have. Fortunately I have not had a lot pain. Especially since I cannot take opiods. They make quite nausea. One doctor years ago even went so far to call me a lousy junkie. apparently I have no tolerance for opiods. I get sick & pass out. Other than the swallowing I too can live with. That is the hard part as I was a foodie. I loved to cook & eat. They can't believe I was so small. But I enjoyed food. I didn't try to stuff my face, just enjoyed the food. Can't have it now. Everyone;s disappointed that I no longer cook. I am quite the accomplished cook. But that is the road to madness. Torture I say.
How your husband deal with not being able to eat. It is slowly driving me crazy. I wish I could at least swallow liquids.
And yes the radiation has done a number on me also. Neck is stiff, jaw locks up (probably from surgery). My hip is stiff where I fell and broke it. My feet even shrunk.
But still I don't know if I would let them cut on me again. I went into this thinking the worst I would have was a droopy shoulder. I think they downplayed the surgery so I would consent. I know it is cancer, but I don't know if I can take anymore. Hopefully it won't come back. Though I am sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just a matter of time. At least the DR. Lee is good with a scapel. I do have minimal scarring. I don't quite scare kids yet.
Your husband is in my prayers. I wish him the best and hope all else go wells for him. He deserves something good to happen after all he's been through.
God Bless and Best wishes!
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May 2017
Hi, Crys. I was reading the responses to the immunotherapy question and looked you up. I got choked up reading your "experiences". My goodness, your hubby and you have been through a lot. And you both keep going. Thinking of you guys and sending very best wishes. BTW, I grew up in Fresno - just up the road from you guys.0June 2017
Yesterday, I went to Dr. yesterday and he suggests to take Keytruda. Like Crys, husband Mike, I have very aggressive SCC jaw and mouth. After numerous surgeries and 33 rounds of radiation, the next step is immunotherapy.
God bless him & keep him from harm. He has been through the wringer. My cancer came back & I had surgery in Oct 2015. They took a strip out of my leg from my thigh to my knee & put in my face/neck. The cancer was between my ear & my brain. They took the jugulars on the left side, scraped my brain stem, and cut my vagus nerve (hence the paralysis). They did something to my jaw. I think they broke it. There is all kinds of hardware in there now. I am very uncomfortable most of time. I find the Marinol helps with the discomfort & what pain I have. Fortunately I have not had a lot pain. Especially since I cannot take opiods. They make quite nausea. One doctor years ago even went so far to call me a lousy junkie. apparently I have no tolerance for opiods. I get sick & pass out. Other than the swallowing I too can live with. That is the hard part as I was a foodie. I loved to cook & eat. They can't believe I was so small. But I enjoyed food. I didn't try to stuff my face, just enjoyed the food. Can't have it now. Everyone;s disappointed that I no longer cook. I am quite the accomplished cook. But that is the road to madness. Torture I say.
Hi Crys. Welcome to What Next. There are lots of great people here. But it sounds like you are living w/a great person. He has certainly been through a lot. And I know squamous cell is not the most aggressive of the skin cancers. Definitely a lesson that we should all be diligent -- who would have thought a pimple would do that? Please don't forget to take care of you, too. You are just as important in this whole thing and you deserve to be good to you -- if there are friends and family close, make sure to let them help you. Or take you out to fuss over you. I'm wishing both of you all the best.0March 2017
