To Gwyn and Deborah, thanks for your responses. I think my wife and I are going to have sore heads in the morning, just opened another bottle of 'Bolly'.

Lots of love, David.

hi david
well this is fantastic news about your daughter and i am so happy for you all,hope your heads are not too sore,it's nice to see some good news.kindest regards shirl

Hi all, I feel somewhat guilty in posting relative good news about my daughter when so many on this board are still under treatment.

But must publically acknowledge Mr Malcolm Bailey and his team at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Surrey for their skill and constant reassurance they gave the whole family during Dawns encounter with this terrible disease.

Mr Bailey gave us his home number and suggested we call him personally any time day or night if we were concerned, Dawn did on a number of occasions. I did one Sunday afternoon just after the second operation, got his answer phone but he called me at 23:00 that evening after a day out with his wife, he was calm ,to the point and gave me a lot of confidence. This is way and beyond the call of NHS duty and we cant thank him and his team enough for the reassurance given to the family during this terrible ordeal.
What a man! What a team! We are blessed to be cared for by such dedicated and caring peole.

If you can please trust in your specialists. They will make the right decisions for you.

Lots of love, David

Hi David

That is absolutely wonderful news! I am really happy for you and your family. I remember the day my doc told us that I didn't need rt or chemo (the report actually said "not indicated"). We all teared up, and my doc looked surprised.

May you have continued good news!

Julia

Hi David, Good news is rare on here (no pun intended hehe) glad to hear the positive sides.
I agree with you my Team at the Max Fax at UCH are fantastic and the Cancer nurse Maggie goes out of her way to help anyone with problems.
I still see the same Connsultant Mr K and thats very reassuring to me as he knows my mouth even after all the years in remission as past its still in the back of your mind when you feel a lump has it come back .


Paul

Hi All, just to let you know that Dawn goes for the first of 12 monthly reviews with her consultant tomorrow. Hoping everything is OK.

As someone posted here, her speech would improve daily and so it has, to strangers it appears no more than a small lisp. A tremendous improvement.

What I have not mentioned before is the great help counselling has been to Dawn. In the past I've been sceptical but it certainly helped her through the dark days when we were waiting for the results. She still attends weekly and I am really encouraged by the affect on her. She is extremely positive about the future. To anyone going through this terrible ordeal and thinking of seeing a cousellor - my advice is to go for it.

Many thanks for listening.

Love David

Hi David

I am so glat that Dawn is doing well.

Julia

Hi All, just to let you know that Dawn had her first monthly review yesterday and everything was OK. Her consultant said she must get back to normal living and start to have some fun again. she goes back to work at the end of August.
She's just signed up at The Fountain Centre (Cancer support group)for one day per week and has offered herself as a living example of how you can come through this terrible ordeal. We are so proud of her.

David,

What wonderful news! Never feel guilty about posting good results when you feel others are suffering - it's the good news that keeps us going; otherwise, why bother?

So far (fingers and toes crossed) I'm a survivor, Dawn's a survivor, and it's something to celebrate. Don't deny us our (guilty) pleasure!

Mimi

What good news David.where was she treated?
Rob was treated at the Royal Surrey and Saint Lukes Cancer Centre in Guildford.

Liz, Dawn was treated at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford.Her consultant/surgeon is Mr Malcolm Bailey. A great man who was available to answer our questions over the phone 24/7, well above and beyond the call of NHS duty.

Regards, David.

Its a small world isn't it? They were very good to us and the cancer centre is amazing.

Hi Liz, did you have Mr. Bailey? When was the treatment? Where you living in Surrey at the time?
Regards, David.

Hi David
yes we lived in Grayshott just by Hindhead on the A3.Rob was born and bred in Hampshire and worked all over Surrey and Sussex and Hampshire as a plumbing and heating engineer.Rob was diagnosed in December 2006 and had his surgery January 2007 and his rads March/April 2007.His recurrurance came in June 2007 and he died in Phyllis Tuckwell hospice in Farnham in July.
He wasn't under Mr.Bailey he was under Mr Sudderick head and neck surgeon and i cant remember the name of his oncologist as we only saw him once before tx started and then he was seen evrey week by Danny the registrar

I am so pleased your daughter has had such a good outcome its nice to hear success stories.
Rob was on a loser from word one as his dentist had missed the diagnosis of the ulcer on his tongue six months before his secondary tumour popped up,and by then it was downhill all the way.A life lost at 44 is one too many so we must never stop spreading the word.
I have just been invited by macmillan Cancer research to be part of a panel that over the next two years will be investigating post cancer and end of life care and support and ii hope it will help with the emotional support side of this terrible disease

Hi all, just to let you all know that Dawn is doing really well. She had a copy of the letter sent by her consultant to her GP today in which he said that there was no evidence of SCC in the tissue excised in the second op. When you see it in writing it seems better than when you hear it first hand!
She goes for her second mothly review in two weeks time.

As way of celebration we are all (9 of us) going on a Caravan holiday to Devon next week, can't wait.

Her speech, although affected is improving, but still has some difficulty with eating.

However she has some nerve damage in her left shoulder which is causing extreme pain and has difficulty in sleeping. She requires physio, and is going for X-ray to determine the extent of the damage. Caused we believe by the neck dissection surgery. Apparently quite common and could take up to 12 months to recover.But a small price to pay considering where we where a month ago.
To all of you I must say how thankful we are for your posts and positive responses to my posts. Again many thanks.
Lots of love and best wishes for the future,
David. xx