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What is your quality of life after a partial maxillectomy?
Has your quality of life improved or declined after having a partial maxillectomy? If you had to make the choice again, would you do it? What is the hardest thing you've had to live with post-surgery? Making a decision to have or not have this surgery seems like a lose/lose choice. Please share your thoughts and experience.
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Thank you so much 😊 we are having regular visits.
Does anyone have experience with there being a positive surgical margin after the surgery, including nodes affected and perinural invasion?
Would be interesting to hear of people’s outcomes and how much time the surgery alone gave them. Or whether all that can still share experiences had both radiation and chemotherapy?
Thanks in advance
@coolcakes I see I'm a year late (sorry! perhaps it might help someone else) -- husband just had HPV small palate surgery on 3/23/26 and so far positive surgical margin for 2cm T1. They removed all lymph nodes for precaution. No radiation or chemo needed at this point. It was a choice to go with surgery or radiation and from going through this Mayo site we found the surgery an easier option. So far so good and crossing fingers...
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3 Reactions@nnurse I am 2 years post surgery. I have the orastretch and use it not daily but very often. It really helps. I also do swallowing exercises and had therapy at Pardee Cancer center in Midland, Mi. for most of the time since surgery. Radiation has caused a lot of problems including excess saliva and pflegm'
I have definitive obturator and have more problems than I had with the previous two. But reading this I see I am not in the minority.
My life has changed totally in the last 2 years. I have trouble swallowing so my diet is not a healthy one and foods that slide down are usually not healthy. [ice cream etc] I have lost over 30 lbs and I was always on a diet. Now I hate to get on scale in case I have lost a pound. I have all the problems mentioned. I don't think I had a choice with radiation. I did not want it but my surgeon said it was necessary even though margins were clear. I still am monitored 3months but hope I will be on the move to 6 mo surveillance when I go May 27. I have to travel to Ann Arbor [U of M] which is over 2 hrs away. I have to pay a driver each time as my husband wont drive. It is a hard battle but am here to talk about it.
Has anyone had their jaw rebuilt due to nucrosis of the Jaw bone from radiation after salivary gland cancer?