Confused

hello, my daddy was just diagnosed with Scc of the lymph nodes and after 2 biopsys and 3 p.e.t. scans, has been told he has no other cancers ANYWHERE in his body. We are afraid of where it will turn up. He has been scheduled to have a neck dissection (lymph nodes, jugular vein, tonsils, and muscle strip) on Tuesday, September 12 at Rex Hospital (Raleigh, NC) Now, could someone please drop me a line to let me know how this is possible!?! Can he actually have his jugular removed?

I alos feel like his treatment is too good to be true because the doc is ONLY doing surgery. No chemo, no radiation. Does anyone have an opinion or prediction of the outcome of this. I would love nothing more than for Daddy to come home after same day surgery with a clean bill of health 3 weeks after but, I feel like we are waiting for the second shoe to drop.

A second opinion from a qualified cancer center is always recommended like Sloan Kettering or M. D. Anserson. This is too important to pass up.
Ernie

Let me get this straight.

Your father lives less than 30 miles from the seventh best cancer facility in the entire world (Duke in Durham, NC is ranked 7th, www.mc.duke.edu, Sloan-Kettering and MD Anderson are the top two places).

But your father is getting cancer treatment in Raleigh. Unbelievable.

I am speechless,
-Amnia

Well, I will be sure to tell Daddy to check out his options before commiting to this. It just sounds crazy! We are new to this whole lifestyle-he only found out on 8/31-and I appreciate all of the help I can get. I figured his doctor (who is affiliated with Rex) would've reffered him to Duke if it was in Daddy's best interest but, maybe the doc is only concerned for [the doc's] best interest.

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't researched anything yet and have no clue why we didn't think of Duke. I think we just panicked. I immediately thought of chatting with survivors and caretakers before I had time to think of the technical stuff.

dear Tiffany,

be prepared for your father to be irrational.

the moment a person finds out they have cancer they feel lost. the first doctor to act the least bit compassionate about their cancer is suddenly their one and only hope for survival. it is a sight to behold how a once strong and independent person becomes a quivering mass of doubt and indecision willing to go with the first thing that comes along.

if you are getting your taxes audited by the IRS, you would seek out the best tax lawyers you could find, not the first accountant you come across. why treat cancer less aggressively than you would treat an IRS audit? seek out the best specialists. most people have to fly hundreds of miles to get to a facility in the top 10. and you live just down the road from one. Jesus.

i would not have my dog put down in Raleigh, NC. they are practicing medicine that is perhaps 5 years behind the times. For God's sake, at least get your father to Duke for a "second opinion" and tell them what you said in your base note about how they were going to treat his cancer in Raleigh. If you have a stopwatch, let us know how long it took them once they heard the plan for them to stop laughing.

but if you think it will be easy convincing your dad to switch to the Duke doctors once he has built up a relationship with the Raleigh doctors, you are dead wrong. unfortunately, so will he.

tough love is tough,
-Amnia

 

On 9/2/2006 Secondrose wrote:

hello, my daddy was just diagnosed with Scc of the lymph nodes and after 2 biopsys and 3 p.e.t. scans, has been told he has no other cancers ANYWHERE in his body. We are afraid of where it will turn up. He has been scheduled to have a neck dissection (lymph nodes, jugular vein, tonsils, and muscle strip) on Tuesday, September 12 at Rex Hospital (Raleigh, NC) Now, could someone please drop me a line to let me know how this is possible!?! Can he actually have his jugular removed? I alos feel like his treatment is too good to be true because the doc is ONLY doing surgery. No chemo, no radiation. Does anyone have an opinion or prediction of the outcome of this. I would love nothing more than for Daddy to come home after same day surgery with a clean bill of health 3 weeks after but, I feel like we are waiting for the second shoe to drop.

Hi, I also have had the juglar removed, along with the diessission of the neck, it was explained to me that we all have 4 jugglar vains two on each side , one inner and one outer on each side, so the removal of one ,will not be a problem, God Bless your Dad and keep giving him all the love and care you can, JOE T