Hi chris,

Thanks for your kind words or reassurance it really gave me a boost. its really exciting to hear about your friend who had all that treatment and has since got his voice back, fingers crossed it will be the same for us. Ive just been finding it difficult at the moment to stay positive as my voice has been bad for so long so hearing from you and marion is a great support to me as, as I'm sure you know however kind and well meaning people are they don't really understand how frustrating this all is.

Glad to hear your RT has gone well and that your voice that your has improved. sounds like the side effects were quite gruelling for you but if the results are good, and your voice continues to improve which I'm sure it will, it will all be worth it. Well done!! Funny you should mention the anti depressants as I too have been on them for about a year now and have found them a great help as I know they cure the problem but they soften the blow and have reduced the anxiety which sky rocketed last summer when all this started. I'm lucky that so far I have been able to keep working and my clients have been very supportive and understanding, they keep telling me I talk too much and they reassure me they can hear and understand what i'm saying as that is what always worries me with this is that i'm not communicating properly which is a big part of my job.

As I've mentioned to marion I am due for another micro endoscopy and biopsy soon so waiting for a date so they can look properly at what is going on and then decide the best course of action, will let you know how I get on. Keep me posted on how you get on and I hope everything carries on improving for you. All the best chris and take care

Speak soon.

Andy

Hi Chris

Glad to hear that you're on the slow road to recovery. I know what you mean about feeling tired - RT does that to you. I still feel tired now after 3 years but maybe it's old age (I'm a young 53 year old) but neither act or feel it! I remember around the same time of day as you I just had to lie down for an hour. It was at this stage that I suddenly became very anxious and had an overwhelming feeling of dread and didn't know what to do with myself but the oncologists say it's perfectly normal as you're in "the in between" stage where you've had your treatment and all of a sudden you're starting to recover physically but you still don't know if the treatment has worked. I have to say that was the worse time for me as I was so scared and depressed. Hopefully it won't affect you like that and I know you've already been down that road.

Good job that you don't have a dry mouth as it's so annoying, not being able to swallow dry food and wake up with your tongue feeling like sandpaper! lol. Your dry throat will get better over time as well. Do you have to have an MRI scan after 8 weeks post-RT? I did, and the waiting was awful. Even then, they could only say that it was as they expected - they couldn't tell me if I was cured. Only time tells.

Looking back I was a bit silly really as I went back to work 6 weeks after my treatment and only 4 weeks after coming out of hospital as I had to be tube fed and then I got a pulmonary embolism! I was so tired after travelling 3 hours to work and then working an 8 hour day but I felt I needed to get back to "normal" - what ever that is!

My voice did exactly the same as yours - it was coming back during the treatment and then it suddenly went and I panicked thinking that the RT wasn't working. It also came back for a bit when I was at home after a couple of weeks and went again - but they said it was all normal so if it happens to you don't panic!

I have to leave work now but I'll respond to Andy tomorrow (if you're reading this Andy)!

Take care and stay in touch..

Love Marion xx

Hi Andy

Nice to hear from you. I'm glad you're feeling a little bit better and that you are a bit more reassured.

I remember having a gravelly voice and I thought it would stay like that forever. A few weeks after having my RT someone from work phoned up and asked me "how Marion was", not realising it was me that answered the phone! They had never heard me speak in my normal voice before and thought they were talking to my daughter! The last time they had spoken to me I sounded like Phyllis Pearce (remember her?) from Coronation Street on a bad day! ;)

In answer to your question about changing any habits, I never smoked (which my consultant found hard to believe) but I do like a glass of wine although I have cut down a lot. I only drink at weekends and the maximum I drink is 3 glasses in an evening. It was hard on my 2 week holiday though as I was with my family and we were drinking every night although I tried to only have one or two. My consultant told me definitely not to drink spirits and said I can have the odd glass but I suppose I do have more than I should. It's very hard not to drink anything as I don't like soft drinks and it's very boring sitting there with water whille everyone else is getting merry but then the next day I worry that I've put myself at risk so I can't win really.

I'd love to meet up one day - where do you live? I live in Watford but work in London.

Let me know when you get a date for your micro endoscopy.

Take care and keep in touch.

Love Marion x

Hi Marion. Chris,

Just thought i'd drop you a line to say I'm going in tomorrow for my micro endoscopy so keeping my fingers crossed they won't find the cancers come back and they don't have to do too much lasering. I guess they will do some biopsy's. Will let you know how I get on. Hope you are both well and hope all is going well with your RT Chris.

Best wishes

Andy

Hi Andy/Chris

Good luck tomorrow, let me know how you get on. I'm off to New York with my son (who had testicular cancer last year) on Wednesday morning but I'll log on when I get back on the 26th.

Fingers crossed you wil be fine!

Chris, hope you are doing OK and let us know how you're getting on.

Love Marion x

Thanks Marion,

Have a great time in the big apple!

Hi Found out my husband had Vocal cord cancer ( T1) last week and have since spent a lot of time on this site and have read all this discussion i would like to say a huge thank you to Mariontaylor, Joeninty, Zarker and Chris77.We needed to know what was likely to happen and through reading this honest account of your lives feel we have a better ubnderstanding of what may lie ahead. I dont think you realise just how helpfull you are thank you. i know we are just starting down a long long road but we are lucky that my husbands cancer is so small they are lasering it soon and hope for a full recovery. thank you for all your honest stories that have been so informative. my heart goes out to every one on this site whether you are a sufferer or just someone you know is suffering.

god bless

Hi Andy

I'm back although feeling very jet lagged back at work after arriving late last night! Had a fantastic time in the Big Apple and now have the statue of Liberty as my wallpaper on my phone (sad)!

How are you? Please let me know how you got on last week.

Love Marion x

HI Marion,

Glad you had a good time in NY, I love it there. Had my laser procedure a week ago, so still feeling a little tender and voice is v hoarse ( whats new!) and they did some more laser and biopsy's. I have a strong feeling its not good news. Since I had a the laser I have been sent for another neck and chest CT scan today, the resluts of which I won't get till tomorrow and I had an ultra sound on my neck which fortunately seems to indicate there are no lumps and my lymph nodes aren't swollen.

I rang the macmillan nurse who works with my consultant yesterday and she seemed to indicate between the lines that they may have found something else and that I may need to have RT. This is all hearsay at the moment as my follow up appt isn't till tomorrow but I think this is what they will say as all the tests seems to have been done super quick.

Its really disappointing as I was so hoping there wouldn't have been a reacurrance, still I guess I have to wait till tomorrow to be told for sure.

Regards

Andy

Hi Luckyus

You've probably seen that I've been away for a few days so have only just seen your kind message, it was so nice of you to write. It's great to hear that our postings have helped in some way as I tend to forget that others are reading them as well!

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband but I'm sure he will be fine as it's at a very early stage. If you're ever worried about anything please get in touch as I check this site regularly.

Take care and let us know how your husband is getting on.

Love Marion