Laralyn

I haven't posted a lot (just in the Introduce Yourself section) but I wanted to share this in case it gives hope to someone just diagnosed or going through treatments. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb SCC, with a very large mass (5x6cm) in my right lung and affected lymph nodes all the way up to my collarbone. I had 7 weeks of chemo-radiation (IMRT, carbo+taxol), and I just got the results of the first PET scan (3 months post-treatment).
 
There were a few spots to watch--some lit areas on the PET and ground glass opacity sections on the CT--but both the radiologist and my radiation oncologist believe those are inflammation from the radiation. The official results at this point are that there's no longer any sign of active cancer anywhere in my body.
 
I strongly suspect the fact that the cancer was HPV+ played a role in its response--my previous tonsil cancer was also HPV+ and it also responded very well to chemo-radiation. If you have a previous history of HPV+ cancer, I highly recommend you ask for them to test any later cancers for HPV.
 
I'm still processing the results because while I was optimistic, I wasn't THAT optimistic. It's a good example of why the median isn't the message. Here's hoping my CT scan in 3 months has similar results!

I haven't posted a lot (just in the Introduce Yourself section) but I wanted to share this in case it gives hope to someone just diagnosed or going through treatments. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb SCC, with a very large mass (5x6cm) in my right lung and affected lymph nodes all the way up to my collarbone. I had 7 weeks of chemo-radiation (IMRT, carbo+taxol), and I just got the results of the first PET scan (3 months post-treatment).
 
There were a few spots to watch--some lit areas on the PET and ground glass opacity sections on the CT--but both the radiologist and my radiation oncologist believe those are inflammation from the radiation. The official results at this point are that there's no longer any sign of active cancer anywhere in my body.
 
I strongly suspect the fact that the cancer was HPV+ played a role in its response--my previous tonsil cancer was also HPV+ and it also responded very well to chemo-radiation. If you have a previous history of HPV+ cancer, I highly recommend you ask for them to test any later cancers for HPV.
 
I'm still processing the results because while I was optimistic, I wasn't THAT optimistic. It's a good example of why the median isn't the message. Here's hoping my CT scan in 3 months has similar results!

I haven't posted a lot (just in the Introduce Yourself section) but I wanted to share this in case it gives hope to someone just diagnosed or going through treatments. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb SCC, with a very large mass (5x6cm) in my right lung and affected lymph nodes all the way up to my collarbone. I had 7 weeks of chemo-radiation (IMRT, carbo+taxol), and I just got the results of the first PET scan (3 months post-treatment).
 
There were a few spots to watch--some lit areas on the PET and ground glass opacity sections on the CT--but both the radiologist and my radiation oncologist believe those are inflammation from the radiation. The official results at this point are that there's no longer any sign of active cancer anywhere in my body.
 
I strongly suspect the fact that the cancer was HPV+ played a role in its response--my previous tonsil cancer was also HPV+ and it also responded very well to chemo-radiation. If you have a previous history of HPV+ cancer, I highly recommend you ask for them to test any later cancers for HPV.
 
I'm still processing the results because while I was optimistic, I wasn't THAT optimistic. It's a good example of why the median isn't the message. Here's hoping my CT scan in 3 months has similar results!

Thanks, Cindy! I debated whether to send my information to LifeLine but I tend to be fairly shy so I hesitated.
 
Tom, it's funny that you should post The Median Isn't The Message. I blogged as I went through head and neck cancer treatments in 2012 and that was one of the first things I blogged about! Yet somehow I lost track of the spirit of that article in the intervening time. Thank you for reminding me of it--it was timely, since my consolidation chemo starts tomorrow and I've had some anxiety about it.