Story highlights
- Karen Frost developed stage 4 oral cancer in a tooth socket that never healed properly after an extraction.
- She was treated successfully at UT MD Anderson and has been cancer-free since 2023.
- She looks forward to UT MD Anderson providing care in Austin in a few years at UT Dell Medical Center.
Dr. Vicente Valero, a breast medical oncologist at UT MD Anderson, kept my late mother alive for 25 years — even after a stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. Urologists there also treated my late father successfully for prostate cancer.
So, when a biopsy revealed the source of an ongoing issue in my mouth might be squamous cell carcinoma — a type of oral cancer — I didn’t hesitate: I called UT MD Anderson right away.
My stage 4 oral cancer diagnosis
By the time I had my first consultation at UT MD Anderson, three Austin dentists, two periodontists and an oral surgeon had all overlooked my oral cancer. Not even Dr. Neil Gross, a well-respected head and neck surgeon at UT MD Anderson, was convinced of the primary site of the cancer until my first exploratory surgery.
But cancer is exactly what the swollen lymph node beneath my chin turned out to be.
The cancer started in a non-healing tooth socket. My gums never really healed properly after a tooth extraction in 2017. By the time I was diagnosed with oral cancer a few years later, it had grown deep into my jawbone. That made it stage 4.
My stage 4 oral cancer treatment
Nobody ever wants to hear they have cancer — least of all stage 4. But after watching my mother live with it for 25 years, I knew it didn’t have to be the worst thing that ever happened to me. I trust UT MD Anderson. And, my sister reminded me that I knew how to do this. So, I took a deep breath and got on with it.
To treat the cancer, Dr. Gross recommended surgery followed by chemoradiation. He’d remove the diseased bone, the swollen lymph node and some others nearby to test them for cancer. Then, plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Villa would use a part of my leg bone to reconstruct my jaw. Finally, I’d receive six weeks of chemoradiation under the joint supervision of radiation oncologist Dr. David Rosenthal and medical oncologist Dr. Maura Gillison.
That sounded good to me. I had the surgery at UT MD Anderson on March 27, 2023, and stayed in the hospital for 10 days. I remained on a feeding tube for about three weeks and started chemoradiation after recovering at home for a bit longer. I finished all that up in early June 2023.
My UT MD Anderson gratitude list
Most patients in my situation need at least one additional surgery to improve their appearance and the function of a bone graft. But Dr. Villa said I was healing so well, he didn’t want to do anything to risk an infection. Instead, he suggested a dental prosthesis, a less invasive option that I hadn’t even considered.
I’m really grateful now that he did. Something more permanent might not have worked out as well and could have caused additional problems down the road.
I’m also very grateful to Dr. Gross. He did such a wonderful job of removing the cancer during the 10-and-a-half-hour surgery that I’ve decided to name my next dog “Grossie” in his honor.
Dr. Mark Chambers, my oral oncologist, was very meticulous in fitting my prosthesis. And dental hygienist, Donna DeVries, has ruined me for all others. Any teeth cleaning that is not hers simply pales by comparison.
What I’m most grateful for now
But I’m probably most grateful for the fact that I’ve shown no evidence of disease since December 2023. I only need checkups now every six months, though after my next one this month, I’ll graduate to once a year.
I do still need help periodically with lymphedema, though. That’s why I was excited to learn that UT MD Anderson will begin providing care in Austin in a few years at UT Dell Medical Center.
Going to Houston for my treatment or follow-ups has never been a sacrifice. I grew up in that city, and my grandkids live there now. Austin is only about three hours away. But just knowing that UT MD Anderson will soon provide care right around the corner from me is thrilling. Austin really needs this. It will improve the caliber of cancer care available here dramatically.
Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online or call 1-877-632-6789.
I trust UT MD Anderson.
Karen Frost
Survivor & Caregiver