Hi Zarker

I had severe displacia of the vocal chords around 5 years ago and was told that I needed laser treatment immediately as it "was very close to cancer". I had laser treatment a few times and had to have biopsies done around every 2 - 3 months but in my case it had gone too deep so they could only laser the surface and it kept coming back. If you are a smoker you should give it up immediately as my consultant told me to avoid smoke at all costs.

I went on to have larygneal cancer but I was stage T2-3 when I was eventually diagnosed. I was successfully treated with radiotherapy 28 months ago and touch wood everything is fine and my voice is better than it's been for years.

On a positive note they are closely monitoring you and as you are at a very early stage hopefully they will be able to get rid of it with laser treatment alone.

I wish you well and hope that the next laser treatment will be the end of it.

Marion x

Hi Marion ,

Thanks very much for your reply it was most helpful. I hope you don't mind me asking but how long was it from when they found displacia to you being diagnosed with laryngeal cancer? As this is what I think may be happening to me. They said inicially It could be treated with laser alone and after my last laser treatment yesterday that the return was on the surface only and did not warrant rdiotherapy at the moment and he had done deeper biopsys which he says hes sure arn't cancerous. This has as you know been a very difficult time for me as i'm so scared of loosing my voice or having to have a laryngectomy which I've been told is unlikely. i'm reassured to know that after your treatment your voice is now good. Thank you again and I hope you continue to do well. Andy

p,s gave up smoking 5 years ago and after this will never go back to it!

Hi Marion,

Into my fifth week and doing ok. The infection has cleared up but am still coughing a fair bit but the doc says that could just be the irritation caused by the RT. I''ve had no voice since I had the infection 2 weeks ago, I guess everything is still inflamed  and swollen with all the coughing etc and told it will come back when treatment has finished, I hope!!! So am whispering to my clients at work which is a bit strange but getting used to it. Luckily I can still swallow solid food even had a sandwich today but finding i'm not enjoying food as much as I normally do. My neck is red but not painful useing lots of creams etc.

So looking forward for this to be over with and am crossing each session of the list, which i'm treating as my advent calender, final day jan 5th!!!! Hope you have a lovely christmas and great new year and thank you so much for all your help and support through out this year, don't know what I would have done with out you.

Love

Andy x

Hi Marion

Thank you so much will try to post tomorrow to let you know how it went really nervous but at least we will know a bit more tomorrow

Thanks again

Luckyus

Hi Andy

Thank you as well for thinking of us tomorrow will let you know what happened as soon as i can. hope you are able to get some Christmas dinner down and we will all count the days until you are able to shout at your trainees again

Thanks again

Luckyus

Hi Luckyus.

Christmas is the time that everyone hope to get what they want.   I hope that the news tomorrow is the best news that christmas can bring.

Will be thinking of you. all the best, hope that christmas is the best celabration for you all.

Wish you all the best for the coming days.

Michael.

Hi Michael

Thank you so much i have fingers and toes crossed for tomorrow, we are out for a christmas party tomorrow so we will either celebrate its gone or  drowned the d*** thing he he will post as soon as possible.

Thanks once again for all your support thank god for this site and all on this post that has continued to help me.

Merry Christmas to you all ( just in case i dont feel it after tomorrow)

Love

Luckyus

Hi Joeninty, Zarker, Marion,

Thank you all so much for your support today it was so appreciated THE VERDICT: My husband got the all clear today no traces of cancer left. Now i know that is not yet the end of it but boy what a great christmas present for us. He is now on the 6 weekly checkups for a year and fingers crossed he will be lucky enough to sail through them.  Merry merry Christmas to you and thank you for your help.

A Happy smiley hopeful  Luckyus.

Hi thats great news!!! No need to ask if your relieved!!! Now you can relax and have a great christmas. Give my congrats and best wishes to your husband. Merry christmas

Andy

Hi Luckyus.

Thats great news, you can get on with life, tell your husband all the best, maybe he can get a bit of sleep now.

Always here if you want a chat.

Michael.

What FANTASTIC news - you must be so relieved!  Now you can hopefully sit back and enjoy your Christmas.

What a shame you had to suffer such a long worrying wait.

I'm sure you and your husband will be anxious as every 6 weekly visit approaches but I wish you both a very happy and more importantly HEALTHY New Year.

Will be in touch in 2011!

Love Marion x

Hi Andy

Thanks for your kind words, I feel very humble but I'm so glad if I've helped a bit.

I can't believe you are still working in your 5th week of RT - I'm sure I was feeling pretty c**p after 20-odd zaps of RT!  Your fitness training has obviously paid off.  Don't worry about your voice, it will come back but it might take a while so don't panic.  I've probably already told you (and I'm sure your onc has told you) that you will actually feel worse after the treatment has finished.  It's horrible that you have to go through this over Christmas but only a week or so to go and you can put all this behind you.

I had a bit of a scare as my voice was quite croaky for the last 2 weeks so I brought my appointment forward to see my consultant yesterday.  Luckily he said my larynx looked perfectly normal and he put it down to the stress of Christmas (phew).  At least it's put my mind at rest and I won't be worrying over Christmas now.

I hope Christmas will be as well as can be expected for you and wish you a very happy and healthy New Year.

Take care and I'll be in touch soon.

Love Marion x

Hi Andy

Thanks for your kind words, I feel very humble but I'm so glad if I've helped a bit.

I can't believe you are still working in your 5th week of RT - I'm sure I was feeling pretty c**p after 20-odd zaps of RT!  Your fitness training has obviously paid off.  Don't worry about your voice, it will come back but it might take a while so don't panic.  I've probably already told you (and I'm sure your onc has told you) that you will actually feel worse after the treatment has finished.  It's horrible that you have to go through this over Christmas but only a week or so to go and you can put all this behind you.

I had a bit of a scare as my voice was quite croaky for the last 2 weeks so I brought my appointment forward to see my consultant yesterday.  Luckily he said my larynx looked perfectly normal and he put it down to the stress of Christmas (phew).  At least it's put my mind at rest and I won't be worrying over Christmas now.

I hope Christmas will be as well as can be expected for you and wish you a very happy and healthy New Year.

Take care and I'll be in touch soon.

Love Marion x

Hi Marion,

Happy new year! Hope you had a good one and all is well with you. Finished the RT last weds and as soon as I finished started to feel worse, as expected. My throat is still sore and i'm still coughing up lots of gunge but things feel like they are slowly improving and i;m beginnig to swallow easier ann the skin on my nexk is healing well.

The obvious thing i'm concerned about is my voice. I'm able to get some growly sounds out of it on the lower register, sounds are starting to come through but its still really weak and it hurts when I speak. Was this the same for you? Guess I just expected to finish treatment and find it all back to normal..wishful thinking!!

I was working the last 2 weeks but felt so groggy and tired my consultant has suggested I rest up in order to speed up my recovery. I feel a bit ragged at the moment but I guess the worse is over now and keeping my fingers crossed that my voice will return soon. I have to back in 6 weeks so I asked the consultant when will I know if i'm cured and he just said this WILL cure it. I hope he's right!

Best wishes to you.

Love Andy

Andy welcome back!  Happy (and healthy) New Year!  Hope your Christmas was as well as could be expected.

I have been looking out for your posts but assumed that you felt like c**p but have been thinking of you and wondered how you are.

So glad it's all over - you must be so relieved.  I can't believe you carried on working so long but as a trainer your fitness probably helped.  Now try and rest and let your body recover!

Please don't worry about your voice, it's very early days!  I can't remember exactly how long it was before my voice came back to normal but I remember it coming back a bit just towards the end of the treatment and then it went completely about a week after it all finished which really worried me as I thought the treatment hadn't worked.  I know my voice was quite good in the October as I went back to work on a part-time basis so that would have been 2 months later but it came back well before then.  When it does come back don't be surprised if it strains easily at first as it will take quite some time to heal.  I remember one of the girls from work ringing me while I was still off work and for the first time in months I answered the phone and she asked to speak to my mum!  She didn't realise it was me and was so shocked as she had never heard my "normal" voice before as it had been husky for years.

I had to wait 8 weeks to hear that the treatment was sucessful and that appointment was the scariest!  You will probably have an MRI scan just prior to your appointment.

Take care Andy and I wish you a complete recovery but I have no doubt that you are cured.

Love Marion x

HI Marion,

Thanks for your reply. Im starting to feel a lot better. swallowing easier, coughing starting to subside and voice making some progress although when I speak I sound about 90! I'm going back to work next week just part time as i'm self employed and need to earn some money so have told clients I will only whisper and not talk too much during sessions!

As you say its early days for my voice and I have to be patient. I always want everything done by yesterday and hate having to wait especially as I havent been able to speak since the beginning of dec, but guess I have no choice. Also looking forward to having a nice glass of wine but will wait till soreness in my mouth has cleared and my voice is back. I've spent most of  this week just sleeping which I think has done me the power of good and i'm lucky that I have a flexibility in my job to come home and rest between sessions.

I'm not thinking too much about the results of the treatment as I've got to the stage now where I can't worry any more and what will be will be, guess I've done all I can. Have a great w/e and speak soon.

Love Andy

Hi Andy

Just a quick post to see how you are.

I can't believe you're going back to work so early but try not to overdo it as you must be still feeling tired.  Has your voice started to come back yet? Do you know when you are having your scan?  Sorry about all these questions!

I've decided to do the "Shine Walk" for cancer research on 1 October - it's an overnight walk around London (either 13 or 26 miles).  My friend who recently lost her husband to cancer has asked me to do it with her.  I'm not sure if we are doing the full or the half one but I'd better get some walking practise!

Hope you're ok but let us know how you're getting on.

Love Marion x

Hi Marion,

Thanks for your message. Unfortunately I don't have much choice about going back to work as I have a mortgage to pay and  have my business to run which won't work without me  and I can't live on £62 a week sickness benefit. I'm only training 4 clients a day and live very neatr my wotk so I can come home and rest between clients and am finding it ok.

I actually felt worse sitting at home worrying about things as I love my job and I think having a routine is helping me feel things are getting back to normal. The downside is I don't have my voice back yet and my throat is still a bit sore, its been nearly 3 weeks since I finished the RT and am not sure if this is normal as most people tend to get it back towards thre end of tretment. I mentioned about working to the consultant and he said I need to rest my voice but i told him i'm only whispering and working part time and he seemed to think this would be alright. I'm wondering if i'm straining it by working, there's no one to ask as my next appointment with the consultant isn't till mid feb.

Anyway hope your well

Andy x

Hi Andy

It's a shame you had to rush back to work but I do understand the money thing.  I was really lucky as my firm paid me full pay for the time I was off - although it was only 10 weeks in all.  I know what you mean about sitting at home worrying as it was at that time that I became depressed.  I needed to get back to work for normality.

Try not to worry about your voice Andy - we are all different and there's no set time for when it should come back.  I've met quite a few people now through clinic appointments who have had some form of throat cancer and they can all speak.  In fact, I probably already told you, my voice came back and went again for quite some time which really freaked me out!  It's strange but my consultant told me not to whisper as it still strains your vocal cords but I'm sure you will know if you are pushing yourself too hard.  I can really understand your frustration though.

I put my photo on my profile so that everyone can put a "face to a name" but for some reason it's not showing (must have done something wrong)!

Anyway look after yourself and let me know when you get your voice back - hope it's soon!

Love Marion x

Hi Marion,

Yes would have liked to have had 10 weeks off on full pay! but like you said its much better to be doing something and I feel ok in my self apart from the voice. Its so frustrating as I really love my job and this is the time of the year I could be picking up new clients but I can't really take anyone on at the moment sounding like this.

My present clients have been wonderful and are ok with me whispering and tell me to shut up if I;m talking too much! Guess I have to patient and wait for everything to heal. I spoke to my consultant's assistant today who said this was all normal and consistent with post radiotherapy and also said it was ok to work as long as i don't over do it.

Would be good so see a photo of you and put the face to the name, will try and put one up of me.

Thanks again marion and hope all is well with you and will certainly let you know when my voice is back then we can arrange a get together with chris :-)

Andy x

Hi Marion/Andy

Hope your both well.

Marion firstly thanks for mail other day. I will reply when I get a spare 10 mins. Life is hectic at moment going from the North to London every week and trying to spend time with Kids at weekend.

Andy,

I'm glad your on road to recovery but try not to push yourself too hard. I know you want to get back and you need to work  but don't try and run before you can walk. I am sure your voice will improve but as I told you other week on phone my voice is still improving even now 6 months after my RT and there are dips in it some days. I guess it is a long road to recovery and there will always be times when it is not as good as you hope but try and remember the bad times when you had no voice at all. Things will get better.

We must sort that drink out soon. I will be in London until the end of May. I am working on olympics at Stratford so on Central line. Can get anywhere in 30 mins so Just choose somewhere to go.

Speak soon,

Chris

Hi Andy

Sounds like you've got your clients sorted out and they understand the situation.  Lets hope they do as they're told and won't need you to shout at them ;-)

It's bad timing that you can't take any new clients on at the moment as this is the perfect time for getting fit post-Christmas but there will be the Spring when people will want a beach body!  I keep meaning to go to the gym but I bought myself a wii fit  ....... must get round to using it though!

As my photo isn't coming up with my messages, have a look at my profile as it's on that.

We'll have to get together while Chris is still in London, so let us know when you're feeling well enough as I can go anywhere on the tube.

Speak soon.

Love Marion x

Hi Chris

Nice to see you on cancer chat!

Just replied to Andy about meeting up.  I can do any place, any time, any where (I sound like the Martini advert but don't think you're old enough to remember it)!  It will have to be before end of May so hope Andy will be up to it.

Email you soon.

Love Marion x