My dad was diagnosed with tonsil cancer in March last year after also finding a lump in his neck.
First of all let me say 16 months on he is doing absolutely fantastically well, and apart from his 8/10 weekly check ups, normal life has resumed for us all so there is life after your diagnosis. You probably feel all kinds of terrified at the moment but I hope that my dad’s story makes you feel better.
Dad had a tonsillectomy which was for biopsy purposes and was then told his cancer was classed as stage 1 (despite the spread to the neck because this is a common first spread and does not affect the treatment plan or effectiveness of treatment). He then had a neck dissection and further surgery to remove tissue around the tonsils to ensure all the cancer was removed, which it was. He then had six weeks of adjuvant radiotherapy (5 days a week) as a belt and braces approach.
I’m happy to answer any questions you might have or give any support you need. It’s a scary time but Dad is really healthy today so keep the faith
Many thanks for you post it is of great hope . Received my op date today 2 weeks and counting x not had much discomfort until today not sure if its normal as nothing previous apart from after biopsy. So happy to hear dad doing well. I feel gor our family and friends as difficult for you all as for us x
Hi don’t worry it’s gold standard protocol now for the neck lymph node be blasted with chemo radiotherapy remember I had 7 affected lymph nodes radiotherapy got rid of them. Trust your team they do it regularly. Some trusts do nrck dissections but most don’t. Don’t worry. I’m 6 years post chemo radiotherapy
Ah yes that’s the same as with my Dad. They took the tonsils first, then he had the robotic surgery to clean up the back of the throat and a neck dissection a few weeks later.
it’s extremely confusing and I remember feeling very unsure about the next steps. What I learned though is that it’s confusing to you because it’s routine for them. When something steps outside of the norm (for example, my dad had an issue with the first biopsy being negative so they had to change the approach) that’s when you get more clarity and detail. So if you’re feeling like all the information is a bit vague it’s probably because it’s all just progressing exactly as they expect it will.
tonsil cancer is very predictable as far as we’ve been told and responds very well to treatment, which is really positive x
on so not missing much. I’m sat crocheting mind numbing game once again. try to keep busy keep off DR Google you’ll only scare yourself silly. I binge watched game of thrones with hubby no idea what was happening on the series but kept my head in chrck
remember HPV tumours respond very well to treatment.
I'm still working 4 days a week decided not to retire .live with my daughter spend evenings watching netflix keeps brain from wandering trying to carry on as normal for myself family and friends x football free zone herd have it all day at work lol x
Keep on doing what you’re doing. You may find work takes a hack away for a whole treatment is quite debilitating after a few weeks. Try to get someone to take you to appointments especially as time goes by.
