Hello. No experience myself but, there is a documentary on BBC iPlayer at the moment by the comedian Rhod Gilbert who himself got diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2022. It follows his journey from diagnosis to know. Might be worth a watch for you. Not necessarily your husband but should give you an idea of treatment and what to expect.

Hi there.

I know you posted a while ago but just thought I’d pop by and say hello.

My dad was diagnosed with tonsil cancer just over a year ago and his situation was very similar to your husband. He had an enlarged lymph node underneath his jaw which was confirmed as squamous cell carcinoma. The original tumour was found on the right side of his tonsils.

Dad had surgery to remove the tonsils and a neck dissection, and then six weeks of radiotherapy as a belt and braces approach.

It was a tough time but dad coped unbelievably well with everything and I’m happy to share that he received the all clear in January and is doing fantastically well now. He still has 8 weekly check ups but other than that normal life has resumed. 

I hope your husband’s treatment is going well so far. Happy to answer any questions you might have but otherwise just wanted to say hello! X 

Hi...

Thank you so much for your message it was really nice to read and also read to Stephen(my husband)

So this week stephen has had his feeding peg fitted which has been a bit painful but hes coping quite well with it managing to flush himself 

and also clean now, he has already had his tonsil out but his Lymph nodes are fairly big therefore they are not doing the dissection they are hoping the radiotherapy will shrink them.

We are still waiting for the dental work to be done which is really frustrating as he will need 2 weeks after that for the gums to heal before chemotherapy and radiotherapy starts which just means its a waiting game and obviously Stephens getting very frustrated as the longer we 

wait the more risk of it spreading there is!

I will keep you updated and look forward to things progressing at a slightly quicker pace, I know the thought of us spending most of the summer

in Sheffield Wwestern park isn't everones cup of tea but bring it on so he has a better September fingers crossed. x

How strange, that’s my Dad’s name too! :)

Is Stephen’s cancer HPV related? Dad’s was and I think that’s the most common kind. The good news is it’s very slow growing if it is so I think the chances of it spreading are quite small.

The dental work is all a bit frustrating too especially when you just want to get on with it but he’ll be starting soon enough I’m sure. The radiotherapy for Dad wasn’t too much of a challenge, he seemed to cope quite well with it so fingers crossed your husband does too,

I know it’s hard to believe when you’re going through the stages you are right now that it’ll ever be behind you, but just keep your eyes on the days when it will be x