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| EXPERIENCES
> THD'S STORY |
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THD developed cancer in the roof of his mouth.
This is his story.
In March of 1990, my GP was visiting my wife as
she had fallen ill. As Dr Fox was dealing with her,
she expressed her concern for what I thought was
just a small lump in my mouth. The doctor acted
upon concern and gave me a check up. It ended up
with him making me an appointment to see a specialist
at Castleford Hospital.
At this appointment I met Dr Henein, the ENT consultant,
who examined me and took a sample of the lump for
analysis. When I returned to the hospital to collect
the results a few weeks later, the doctor told me
it was oral cancer and that he wanted to operate
immediately. He explained the situation thoroughly
and told me that he would be doing the operation
at Pontefract Hospital.
I had my operation on 12 May 1990. Once in theatre,
the operation took around six hours in which time
they removed the lump from the roof of my mouth
together with half of my palate. They then screwed
a plastic plate into the roof of my mouth to cover
the hole.
After the operation, I came around to find myself
on oxygen almost all the time. I was able to drink
fluids and had Complan® for my meals. My mouth
was sore as I obviously had cuts there but it was
not an unbearable pain. I did however take a few
weeks to adapt to the plate.
Later, an appointment was made for me to attend
Pinderfields Hospital for a new plate for my mouth.
Mr Hutchinson the Oral Surgeon explained what was
planned to put me in a better situation.
A few weeks later I returned to Castleford Hospital
where Mrs Cruickshank, another ENT Consultant, introduced
the idea of radiotherapy to me. Again it was thoroughly
explained and they told me that it would not hurt
but would burn a little.
They told me that 2 deep x-rays were needed and
20 shots of radiotherapy. I received an appointment
for this and visited Cookridge Hospital in Leeds.
At the radiotherapy room, the nurse took fittings
for a plastic shell mask which went all over my
face. This was one of the strangest experiences
yet. The shell took a few days to make and was to
be used by the doctor to mark out the point to the
correct part of my mouth for the radiotherapy shots.
After this, I travelled to Cookridge Hospital every
day in the afternoon around 12 pm. They supplied
accommodation if necessary but I did not want to
stay in hospital. So I chose to travel everyday
from home in a taxi supplied by the hospital.
My first day was a Monday and after reporting to
the reception, I was escorted into the waiting room
with lots of other cancer patients where I waited
until my name was called. I followed the nurse into
the examination room in which I laid on the table.
The plaster cast was placed on my face and a tube
into my mouth to enable me to breathe. As the table
was to move up and down, I was told to lie very
still. Then the lights were dimmed. Once the machine
was turned on, the nurse left me in the room. The
only sound was a low hum coming from the machine
but I felt nothing. Then the nurse came back in
to the room to move the machine to the other side
of my face. These two shots that I had took around
4 minutes each and all were completely painless.
The next day I returned for more radiotherapy. After
my tenth shot I still felt good. By about the fifteenth
shot, my face started to burn a little and it left
a small cross on my face. I pointed this out but
was told it was nothing of great concern. In fact
it was a good sign, it was hitting the correct mark.
I completed all twenty shots and felt okay apart
from the marking on my face, which cleared up after
two weeks.
As the weeks went by I started to feel much better.
I wasn’t as tired and my mouth was healing
well. Once I felt better, I had an appointment to
see the specialist dentist at Pinderfields. Dr Joshi
examined me and decided that new dentures were required.
He explained that the hole was shrinking and that
a new plate with teeth was needed. This was going
to be the third set since having my operation as
my mouth was changing rapidly as it healed. He explained
that this next set of teeth would slightly change
my face. It would just puff my cheeks out a little.
The new dentures did change it slightly but all
for the better as they fitted much tighter and were
considerably more comfortable. I now see Dr Joshi
at Wakefield once a year and also report to the
doctors at Pontefract Hospital once a year.
While I have mentioned hospital staff, nurses and
doctors, and I can’t thank them enough, there
is one person I have not mentioned. My daughter.
She helped me to keep going and I thank her for
all her support.
I had my cancer over 12 years ago. I am living proof
that the operation can be a success, and that you
can go on to live a quality life. I hope you will
have the confidence and determination to fight against
this disease.
Yours faithfully
THD
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