2nd cancer diagnosis for my dad

Hi all. I just wanted to put some thoughts and questions down on a thread. Im 34 and work in the NHS as a med sec. My dad got diagnosed with oral cancer three years ago, he had treatment via surgery and radiotherapy and was given the all clear. 3 years later and the same time of cancer is back but in a different area of his mouth. 

My Dad has took it on the chin but I'm terrified. He is 80 this year in August and im worried he won't be here for it. Looking at him you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with him. He is eating fine, he's in good spirits, laughing and joking etc. After his surgery last time he bounced back so well. He didn't need speech therapy after his surgery and his annual checkups at the GP everything has been fine. He had a biopsy done as there was something not right at the back of his mouth which a month before, a registrar thought was thrush which he was put on antibiotics for. It seemed to clear most of it up but there was still some slight white specks left which he had a biopsy of which confirmed the diagnoses. He's got a CT scan a week today and had some bloods done too. 

Im really scared to be honest. The consultant thinks the biopsy stitching has made it look worse than it is so I'm assuming that means he is confident it's been caught early but he can't have more radiotherapy. I'm just wondering what other treatments he can have and if anyone has gone through something similar to ease my worries. Thank you for reading.

  • Hi AntJac and welcome to the Cancer Chat community.

    I'm very sorry to hear your dad has been diagnosed with mouth cancer for a second time. This must be very difficult but I'm glad you've joined us as so many of our members will know how challenging this can be and hopefully some of them will be along soon to offer their support and advice.

    You can find out about the different treatment options for mouth cancer on our website but if you'd like to discuss this with one of our cancer nurses, they're just a phone call away on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

    You may be able to get more information from the Mouth Cancer Foundation as well.

    I hope this helps and that your dad's CT scan goes well next week.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Thank you for your kind words Steph. I'm worried about what could happen but people have said to me that oral cancer is very treatable. 

  • You ask has anyone gone through anything similar. I am not as old as your Dad, but I had mouth cancer - T4N0M0 SCC - in March 2014 when I was coming up for 64, I will be 72 next week. After surgery I opted for radiotherapy in the hope that would y me done with it forever. Two years later they spotted another one, luckily caught early due to my regular appointments with the consultant. They were pretty sure it was a new one, not the return of the previous one. Surgery again, reasonably quick recovery and back to normal. So it can be dealt with. I seem to be Mr. Susceptible as I have subsequently had 3 more! But I am still here, still getting on with life although currently stuck on a soft diet while I wait to see if they can do anything denture wise. Speech not so good, but despite having another biopsy four days ago (it may turn out to be nothing) I am not ready to give up yet. Thanks to the NHS and all the wonderful people who have worked on me and cared for me. Be positive if you can, it sounds as if he is managing to be as much as anyone can in the circumstances.