I posted a question earlier and I am wondering some more things. My moms boyfriend has had been diagnosed with larynx cancer, he does not know the stage, but knows it is only the size of a marble on the larynx. Is this serious and what are chances of survival? He has had white objects scraped from his nose which came up as cancer then later not cancer. Got that removed and also a small part of his tounge was removed that was cancerous. He had a small thing is his upper shoulder which wasnt cancerous but removed and has a tumor in his lower back that is not cancerous. The doctors do not want to remove because it is to close to his spine and discs. Can anyone tell me anything??
Answer:
It's really hard to answer your questions without knowing what stage the cancer is at, because that impacts heavily on the treatment he will recieve and the suvivability. If it is early stage, he may not require surgery at all. They can opt to treat it with radiation, or radiation and chemotherapy. In the more advanced stages, surgury may be required. How invasive that is depends again on how invasive the tumor is and how advanced it is. Usually they try to remove as little of the larynyx as possible, removing only a vocal cord if possible and trying to avoid having to remove the entire larynx. In early stage cancer, the treatment sucess rate, for cooperative patients, is nearly 90%. In more advanced stages, the rates can drop. The doctors will work very closely with him to determine what kind of treatment would be best for him, and that is pretty individually determined. There are support groups through the treatment centers that can provide him and your family with the answers you will need and support you will need to help get through this. It's not the most deadly if caught and treated early. Even if his entire larynx is removed, people do continue to live long lives afterwards and learn to speak with the aid of an external device to mimic the vocal cords. It's not perfect, but it is doable. From the sounds of things, you are still somewhat shell shocked from the news, and frightened very badly by the "C" word. While it's not something to be taken lightly, by any means, it is not necessarily a death sentence. Wait to panic until you have a lot more information. Right now, you need a positive outlook. Whatever comes, comes. Deal with it one thing at a time, and you will get through it. Find a cancer support group near you, as soon as you can. The doctor who diagnosed the problem should be able to put you in touch with one, or the local hospital should know. Or you can look in the Yellow Pages, or even do an online search for groups near you. There are also plenty of support groups online as well. That way, you can hear from people who have had the same problem, and can help you get through this.
Only his doctor knows for sure. No body on this board is going to be qualified to diagnose the condition of someone they have never even met.
Try WebMD.com. You have to sign on but it's a great site full of info.
The only help I can give is a link to a website:
http://www.medicinenet.com/larynx_cancer...Good luck :)
You should contact the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. They will have all the answers you need.
Cancer is a hard call to make. The link is the University of Maryland Medical and give you some insight into "Laryngeal Cancer".
http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/001042.h...
Here they speak more of removing and you may learn some things. Also, under support group are a few links where you may be able to get more specific advise to your question.
I will assume if the Doctors feel it more dangerous to the "Spine and Discs" they must feel the cancer is not of concern at this time. I can not speak for a doctor, but, if the cancer was life threatening it be more important to remove/treat than a spinal injury during the process.
He could get a second opinion and if you try the links on the site (One is the American Cancer Society) they may give some references in your local area for a second opinion.
This all I can say, as mentioned Cancer a hard call for someone on here. Some people live a normal life with no problems.
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