Squamous Cell Carcinoma

My husband was diagnosed with stage V squamous cell carcinoma at the age of 33, September of 2005. The primary source was in his right tonsil, which was on 8 millimeters in size (the size of a tip of pen); they only found by slicing section by section, we were very lucky they discovered it. Through research I have done, I have not found anyone this young who has a similar diagnoses. He had 2 major surgeries, 1 of which was a radical neck dissection, which has left him with sever never damage in his right shoulder/arm. He has completed 36 rounds of radiation and 5 rounds of chemo, so far to date all test results have been positive. Due to his radiation he now suffers from sever dry socket or dry mouth, we have tried several medication and over the counter products such as Biotene without success. I am looking for anyone out there who may have gone through similar treatments and the affects of the treatments, to compare notes and hopefully find some resolutions to what he is dealing with now. God bless each of you and may he watch over your daily lives.

Sugarmagnolia

hello,
i read your message and thought i would share my experience w/you. i was 35 when i was diagnosed. i have/had tonsil cancer. it spread to my lymphnode. i was stage 4. the node was removed and found to be cancerous. i did another biopsy where the source was discovered in my right tonsil. i did 3 rounds of cisplatin chemo(the hard stuff). then i did 7 weeks of daily radiation w/a weekly dose of carboplatin(cisplatin's cousin). after that i had about 5 weeks to recover before my neck dissection. i was lucky, they only had to cut one side. i did this at the end of april. i still have numbness in my face and always have dry mouth.
there was another patient that volunteered at the doctors office where i go. he is an 11 year survivor and he had the same thing, only more severe. he developed a physical therapy tape for the shoulder problems. i can ask him about that when i go back to the doctor on July 25th. he is definitely going strong.
as for the dry mouth, i constantly drink water and chew gum. it helps a little. i will let you know about the therapy tapes.