Hi Everyone

I'm 52yrs old and I found out on the 29th May I have squamous cell carcinoma HPV+16 which had spread to my left lymph node in my neck, on the 23rd June I underwent a biopsy on my left tonsil under general anaesthetic and my ENT Surgeon/Consultant found that, that was where the cancer started. On the 7th July I had a Left Laser Tonsillectomy & Selective Neck Dissection and I saw him last Thursday and he said there is still some cancer left from the left tonsil area, he is not to sure at the moment if it's around where the tonsil was or underneath where the tonsil was. He said he will have a better idea of what to do next after speaking with the Newcastle team, but he said it may be another operation and then radiotherapy.  He did tell me that the size of the cancer in my left tonsil (Primary) was 2cm and the one in the largest lymph node (Secondary) was 5cm. He also said it was an aggressive cancer... My Mam had breast cancer and it was the aggressive type and she only lasted 2 years, so as you can imagine I'm trying not to dwell on the "aggressive" part but hey ho it is what it is. 

I also have rheumatoid disease so I do take immunosuppressants, sulfasalazine, hydroxy chloroquine and the biologic amgevita, so along with all the pain meds I'm taking too, you can imagine the rattle I make with the slightest movement  lol.

I am due to go and see my ENT specialist this Thursday, so I should know where we go from here, fingers crossed it's not another operation because I'm still recovering from my last one and don't particularly fancy another op just yet :)

So this is what's going on with me, it's still hard to believe I actually have the dreaded "C" because to be honest I don't feel any different really. The good news is that this type of cancer is fixable so to speak, so I'm looking at this in an optimistic way, glass half full instead of half empty.

Thank you for listening

Jules xxx