Roland S

Roland’s Story

Roland is an owner of a transport company and lives in London with his wife Iris. He has two sons and a daughter and five grandchildren. He likes to play golf.

In 1999, Roland thought he had toothache and an abscess on his left upper jaw. It turned out that this swelling was in fact caused by a malignant cancer of his upper jaw and maxillary sinus (squamous cell carcinoma).

The surgery involved removal of his left upper jaw, sinus, cheekbone, nose, palate, and the lower part of his eye socket. A large dental plate (obturator) was used to fill the defect. His cheek, which had been peeled back to facilitate removal of the cancer, was replaced at the end of the operation.

After the surgery Roland was treated with six weeks of radiotherapy. The mask is worn during the treatment to ensure that the patient always receives the radiotherapy at exactly the correct site on their body. Roland found this claustrophobic.