Oral Cancer Surgery

Question: how should a client be positioned immediately following oral cancer surgery?

Answer: semi-fowler's or high fowlers

Question: is there another way to treat oral cancer beside surgery?

Answer: Yes. There is a less invasive type called Proton Beam therapy that may be indicated for some types of facial cancers. There are few centers in the US where this treatment is located. You can check with your oncologist to see if the patient is a candidate for this type of treatment. National Association for Proton Beam Therapy http://www.proton-therapy.org/ Loma Linda University Medical Center: Proton Beam Cancer Treatment Center http://www.llu.edu/proton/ Proton Beam Centers worldwide http://www.orphancancer.org/General/Trea…

Question: has any one had oral surgery due to cancer. Did you have reconstruction too.? we would like to know what to expect from this surgery and reconstruction. Jim has cancer of the buccal mucosa that is the area at the bottom of the mouth between the cheek and gum.

Answer: My grandma had bone cancer in her lower right jawbone. She had the bone removed and rebuilt using a section of bone from her lower leg. 3 years later, she is doing very well. She has a very notable scar from her chin down her neck but it looks very good for the amount of surgery they did. Her biggest complication was physical therapy for her leg; she had some kind of muscular problem afterwards that caused her toes to curl under. Her lip on that side of her mouth still droops and she feels very self conscious about eating and often covers her mouth while doing so. Her teeth are also exposed quite a bit on that side. She says she always has to have gum in her mouth because her mouth gets really dry now. And she complains about drooling uncontrolably at times.

Question: if you fell in love at first with a a guy and later he found out he have oral cancer and get surgery? and look like a different person (unattractive) would you still love him? and even marry him?

Answer: If you truly love him, then yes. If a change in looks makes you want to leave, then you are in love with his looks, not him.

Question: if you have done surgery for oral cancer will you need another surger in future?

Answer: It depend on how much cancer material they had to remove and if there are chances of it spreading somewhere else in the same region, then they will have to return for more surgery. I work in the operating room and I see patients who have return for numerous operations due to the cancer cells spreading rapidly to different areas of the mouth or just to have stages of reconstructive face surgery after having oral cancer removed.

Question: My dog has been diagnosed woth malignant oral cancer. Lower gum. Already did one surgery. It's back.? Does anyone have any information on dog cancer-oral cancer of the lower gum. Malignant-one surgery removed tumor, but is back twice the size in 1 month.

Answer: Common oral cancers include squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma,and fibrosarcoma. It is common for these tumors to recur after surgery. These tumors have to be fully excised mean no cancer cells are remaining after surgery to reduce the chance that it will return. Depending on where the tumor is located this might mean a pretty extensive surgery to make sure all the tumor is removed. In these extensive cases this may actually mean removal of part of the jaw to improve the chances of success. Also before the tumor is surgically removed it is recommended that a CT is performed to see how extensive the tumor is. These tumors tend to extend into the bone and may even destroy part of the jaw bone. Also after removal of the tumor it is recommended that radiation therapy is performed to further reduce the chances that the tumor will return. Some of these tumors are more aggressive than others. Oral melanomas are considered the most aggressive and tend to spread to other organs in the body quicker than the other tumors I have mentioned. So chest x-rays would be needed to to check for the tumor spreading to the lungs. Hope this helps

Question: Oral Surgery ...? When I am older, I want to become an oral and maxillofacial. I have a 4.0 GPA and other good things that will help along the way. What I want to know is that if I become an oral surgeon and sub-specialize in surgery treating head and neck cancer, will I still deal with people and their teeth/oral problems along with the cancer surgery? Or do I just deal with their cancer problems? I want to deal with both.

Answer: yes you can. you can do alot of different things, for example full jaw reconstructions,implants,extractions and alot of different things that general dentists wouldn't want to mess with. find a oral surgeon and ask them if you can shadow them in their office, that gives you a better idea of what its all about. Good Luck

Question: Question On Radiation Therepy for Oral Cancer? After surgery, is it normal to have high doses of Radiation for the head and Neck, if Cancer is on the tongue? Also, is 5 days a week, for 20 minutes each session of radiation for 7 weeks total a lot ? How many ppl get long term side effects, such as loss of Saliva glands or infections?

Answer: My brother had cancer on the tonsil (squamous cell carcinoma) and had radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks as part of his treatment. 20 mins sounds a long time! Are you sure this is all radiation time and not just set-up time? My own appointments for radiation were 20 min appointments but actual radiation time was about 90 seconds! My brother experienced severe mouth ulcers during the course of his treatment, to the point he was having difficulty swallowing. He was on a drip for fluids and lost a lot of weight! His salivary glands have been permanently affected and he now has to have a sip of water with each mouthful of food when eating. But he is ALIVE!!! Happy and healthy again! We were diagnosed with different cancers within a month of each other so went through treatments together - we made an interesting totem pole when both bald from the chemo! LOL.

Question: What is the expected cost of treatment of oral cancer in apollo hospitals? it includes chemotherapy,radiotherapy,surgery

Answer: You can inquire at the provided link on what to expect at the Apollo Hospitals.

Question: Has anyone gone through oral Cancer ? Involving the tongue, lymp nodes and Carotid Artery and had surgery, now cannot talk or swallow?

Answer: Hi, Im 15 and have been going through esophageal cancer since feb and was only operated on last fri to remove tumors. I also can hardly speak and its really hard to swallow. Its caused me to lose heaps of weight (which was a plus at first, but now not so much) Good luck in your battle, i hope you get better soon. Much love, xxxxxx