Hello all
My husband has been diagnosed with cancer, they found a spot under the tongue right at the back.
After some testing it was found it was type 2.
Now here is my dilema,we spend 6 months a year in the USA and 6 months in the UK, the one and only time we didnt take out medical insurance was this trip.
At the moment we are paying everything ourselves and he is being treated at the University of Miami, his is supposed to have surgery 1st of April.
We dont know if we can afford it. I cry all day every day with worry, my question is, if we fly back to the UK how soon will they start treatment and where is the best Maxillo facial unit in the UK?
Many thanks in advance
Sammie

Sammie if its already been diagnosed and you get a GP appointment as an emergency the day you arrive back you should be able to get your doctor to ring/fax for an appointment within 2 weeks if cancer is suspected. They may even make the appointment earlier if the GP can say I have a letter here saying this person is already diagnosed with a particular cancer.

In UK once you have been seen by a consultant I suspect you'd get this operation fast. Getting into the system is the thing and I just wonder if you could write directly to a consultant.

One tip is that if you start with a private appointment and you are in Bupa say they will expect you to stay in the private system. If you start with an NHS appointment you will find the system works pretty fast for cancer whatever you read in the papers about heart and hip delays in ops. The biggestd delays seem to be with radiotherapy as there are not enough therapists to administer it. The equipment is often there but staff to use it are hard to come by. You are not supposed to wait more than 8 weeks after surgery for radiotherapy in ideal circumstances. So it may be worth checking how fast radiotherapy might be administered after any surgery.

A woman who had Bupa paid breast radiotherapy who ude to sit by me was treated exactly the same as I was by therapists except she got a daily bill for £700 to send on to BUPA.

I don't know where the best unit is for maxillo facial surgery. 25 years ago though I had NHS dental maxillo facial surgery (non cancer - just dental work on my jawbone) in North Staffordshire and I was very pleased with the result. The same surgeon a Mr Manning used to do cancer cases too and rebuild faces. I am sure though he has long retired. I am also sure many surgeons in UK are very good. But you should do as I did all those years ago and check them in the medical journals at your local library. Mr Manning I discovered also had worked in Dallas and I decided what was good enough for Dallas was good enough for me and he looked pretty experienced qulification wise so I was happy to have my jaw cut about by him. I just felt he knew what he was doing. Confidence in a surgeon is very important.

Sammie,

Sorry to learn of your husband's diagnosis. However, I can, from experience confirm that Pamela T's advice and information are excellent.

Until I was diagnosed with throat cancer I spent similar periods of time as yourselves between UK and USA. I am attempting to build up to this arrangement again as I progress through my recovery treatment.

In UK the wish is for specialists to carry out 'follow up' checks every month following treatment. I have to date managed to increase periods between checks to 2 months and, starting 31 March 05, I hope to return to USA for 3 months. Incidentally, I completed my radiotherapy at end September, 2004. I have found NHS pace of treatment and service excellent overall.

If you would wish to contact me separately from the forum I can be more specific about my cancer journey. I was in California when it all started.

If interested: arfridge@hotmail.com

Regards, Fridge

Thank you for your kind replies.
We decided to go ahead with the surgery here at UM hospital, and I am not ashamed to say I am petrified for my husband, the days go by very slowly and although I am strong in front of my husband, on the inside I am falling to pieces.
I did want to ask you all about what the surgeon told us, he said that he was removing part of my husbands tongue, some lymph nodes and a saliva gland (same side) and only if the results came back positive would he have radiotherapy, does this sound right to you?
Thanks in advance
Sammie