Squamous cell carcinoma: What is the recommended treatment usually?

I have squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. The cancer was removed surgically, but pathology showed I am Stage 3, because I have cancer in a left lymph node and a clean margin was not achieved. So, I just started a plan of 6 low-dose Cisplatin chemo infusions and 33 sessions of radiation.

Hopefully, you will get answer soon.

@jade2026 I’d had several biopsies and radical surgeries with lymph node dissections from 1987 to 1992. The manufacturers of Accutane understood that clinical trials revealed diminished pre-cancerous lesions, but with no explanation. I talked them into sending samples to my gynecologist, and it successfully shrank and dried the area of recurring vulvar lesions. I also talked my gynecologist in to Interleukin 2 injections directly into the lesions. In 1992, a scientist from CDC was looking at immunotherapy for AIDS and fatigue syndromes. I talked him into considering reoccurring cancers..I was his lab-rat. Taking a portion of my frequent biopsies, he grew it, killed it, then added something to make it injectable into closest remaining lymph node. In our discussions, I suggested the existence of a (still unknown stem cell) basic from which our B and T cells originated. He was PHD Dr. Jim McCoy who later partnered on this research. He died suddenly after a symposium, and his partner went on to win recognition for the discovery. All of these methods kept me working comfortably until a brave surgeon heard about my case, and did a radicle wide excision, and it never returned. Getting away from a stressful environment helped, too.

I was just trying to survive. 24 years old when light symptoms appearing during my first pregnancy. They cleared, then reappeared 3yrs later during my second pregnancy. I miscarried a twin at 11wks, and wondered if my body was trying to tell me something. My weight loss was overlooked after the surviving twin was born healthy. I requested a biopsy on a lesion assumed to be herpes..it was not..it was LS and squamous cell carcinoma, but the margins were clear..and my OB thought the lab had misdiagnosed. At age 30, I became the main ‘bread-winner’ and had a 3rd pregnancy. My OB sent me to Houston to the premier vulvar surgeon at Baylor Medical School, Dr Raymond Kaufman. He explained the hormonal factors involved, and gave me a choice. I chose my son. Continuing to work long hours in pantyhose was a mistake, but my husband had proven to be unreliable for income, insurance, or emotional support. Stress levels made the pain worse, but Orajel and Vitamin E oil got me through the day. I made a foam ‘donut’ seat so that I could sit to drive. Staying dry involved Kotex and tampons, even during pregnancy. Soaking in a hot tub with Epsom salts, applying ice, Lydocane, vinegar, blow drying the area...I was on my own in the ‘80s in SW La. They induced labor, and did a wide excision immediately after vaginal delivery. I was numbed up until I levitated from the pain and needed morphine. After nursing my new son, and feeling my feet again, I was discharged with a baby and 2 toddlers. 5 days later I was in Houston for a more radical vulvectomy with lymph node dissection. My children were moved in with their baby-sitter, so I was motivated to get well and get home. Since I was in Texas Children’s Hospital, there was no way to pity my own situation. I was supposed to stay inpatient for 3wks post surgery, but My Dr’s team met me coming off of the elevator on day 10 (after reading to the children recovering from their cancer treatments on another floor). They examined me, gave me some self-care tips for all of the staples and stitches, removed the lymphatic bulbs and hoses, then dismissed me. My recovery was quick due to great nutrition, and changing my body chemistry from acid to basic. Cat naps were my friend. My biggest problem was vocabulary after the 13hr long surgery under anesthesia. Thank God I had a calendar, address book, and they’d invented sticky notes. Lots of things were hard to say, or the opposite word would come out. I would write basic things I needed to say, record me reading them, then practice reading out loud in front of a mirror, and listening on the way to work. No HIPPA, back then, and my job wouldn’t wait. Staying quiet and working with people who understood allowed me to accomplish everything needed, and pay my medical bills and baby sitter. I changed my dressings at work. Vacation days and Holiday breaks allowed me to have the multiple surgeries required to chase this aggressive cancer and remove lymph nodes. Leggings and long tops on the weekends, dresses alternating cotton panties with crotchless pantyhose if I needed to stay dry after surgery heeled. Scheduled ‘check- ups’ were a dread, since there was always something trying to develop down there. I’d research on my own after bedtime stories..with no internet..I’d make phone calls during the day and write letters at night. Dr Kaufman took my slides on the road. When I felt like I was barely there..a ghost of myself, God gave me strength and angels with answers. All of the things I tried worked for a while, but I’d relapse every time I tried to do too much, like re-landscape, get elected President of some community organization, or fight to save our soul source aquifer from chemical injection wells🤦‍♀️My children are healthy, brilliant, self-sufficient over-achievers raising their own families..I’ve divorced their father and am now so healthy that our old neighbors and friends think I’ve had ‘work done’. So, it’s possible to recover and go on with your life..just continue to implement lessons learned and best practices into daily activities..stretching exercises to avoid scar tissue and promote lymphatic drainage. Elevate feet and legs higher than your heart every chance you get (feet up on the back of the sofa, or lay on the floor with your feet up on the sofa) cotton panties, no Lycra on the surgical areas. Eat healthy. I wish they’d had compression leggings, bariatric chambers, and red-light therapy available 35 years ago..I would have tried that, too! Prayer works! It brings answers or people with answers. Life is good now, and worth the battle 🥰

I was just trying to survive. 24 years old when light symptoms appearing during my first pregnancy. They cleared, then reappeared 3yrs later during my second pregnancy. I miscarried a twin at 11wks, and wondered if my body was trying to tell me something. My weight loss was overlooked after the surviving twin was born healthy. I requested a biopsy on a lesion assumed to be herpes..it was not..it was LS and squamous cell carcinoma, but the margins were clear..and my OB thought the lab had misdiagnosed. At age 30, I became the main ‘bread-winner’ and had a 3rd pregnancy. My OB sent me to Houston to the premier vulvar surgeon at Baylor Medical School, Dr Raymond Kaufman. He explained the hormonal factors involved, and gave me a choice. I chose my son. Continuing to work long hours in pantyhose was a mistake, but my husband had proven to be unreliable for income, insurance, or emotional support. Stress levels made the pain worse, but Orajel and Vitamin E oil got me through the day. I made a foam ‘donut’ seat so that I could sit to drive. Staying dry involved Kotex and tampons, even during pregnancy. Soaking in a hot tub with Epsom salts, applying ice, Lydocane, vinegar, blow drying the area...I was on my own in the ‘80s in SW La. They induced labor, and did a wide excision immediately after vaginal delivery. I was numbed up until I levitated from the pain and needed morphine. After nursing my new son, and feeling my feet again, I was discharged with a baby and 2 toddlers. 5 days later I was in Houston for a more radical vulvectomy with lymph node dissection. My children were moved in with their baby-sitter, so I was motivated to get well and get home. Since I was in Texas Children’s Hospital, there was no way to pity my own situation. I was supposed to stay inpatient for 3wks post surgery, but My Dr’s team met me coming off of the elevator on day 10 (after reading to the children recovering from their cancer treatments on another floor). They examined me, gave me some self-care tips for all of the staples and stitches, removed the lymphatic bulbs and hoses, then dismissed me. My recovery was quick due to great nutrition, and changing my body chemistry from acid to basic. Cat naps were my friend. My biggest problem was vocabulary after the 13hr long surgery under anesthesia. Thank God I had a calendar, address book, and they’d invented sticky notes. Lots of things were hard to say, or the opposite word would come out. I would write basic things I needed to say, record me reading them, then practice reading out loud in front of a mirror, and listening on the way to work. No HIPPA, back then, and my job wouldn’t wait. Staying quiet and working with people who understood allowed me to accomplish everything needed, and pay my medical bills and baby sitter. I changed my dressings at work. Vacation days and Holiday breaks allowed me to have the multiple surgeries required to chase this aggressive cancer and remove lymph nodes. Leggings and long tops on the weekends, dresses alternating cotton panties with crotchless pantyhose if I needed to stay dry after surgery heeled. Scheduled ‘check- ups’ were a dread, since there was always something trying to develop down there. I’d research on my own after bedtime stories..with no internet..I’d make phone calls during the day and write letters at night. Dr Kaufman took my slides on the road. When I felt like I was barely there..a ghost of myself, God gave me strength and angels with answers. All of the things I tried worked for a while, but I’d relapse every time I tried to do too much, like re-landscape, get elected President of some community organization, or fight to save our soul source aquifer from chemical injection wells🤦‍♀️My children are healthy, brilliant, self-sufficient over-achievers raising their own families..I’ve divorced their father and am now so healthy that our old neighbors and friends think I’ve had ‘work done’. So, it’s possible to recover and go on with your life..just continue to implement lessons learned and best practices into daily activities..stretching exercises to avoid scar tissue and promote lymphatic drainage. Elevate feet and legs higher than your heart every chance you get (feet up on the back of the sofa, or lay on the floor with your feet up on the sofa) cotton panties, no Lycra on the surgical areas. Eat healthy. I wish they’d had compression leggings, bariatric chambers, and red-light therapy available 35 years ago..I would have tried that, too! Prayer works! It brings answers or people with answers. Life is good now, and worth the battle 🥰

@ima1survivor Yours is an incredible narrative of all that you have endured. And, as you point out over and over again, you did what you needed to do for yourself and for your children. And you thrived. Thank you for sharing your inspiring journey with us.

Do you now have grandchildren?

@ima1survivor I am blown away at your tenacity! That must’ve been an extremely lonely struggle back then. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips.

@naturegirl5 yes. 4 grandchildren. I’m 70, and found love with someone who paid no attention in anatomy classes😅He doesn’t notice the missing parts, the scars have diminished, and I’m living proof that you don’t need a clitorus to climax. God has given back the years I missed. I hope and pray that everyone takes the path that makes them feel closest to God’s plan for them. 😘