It all started in April 2013 with large painless swelling on my neck. Talking with collegues at work and a quick scan of the dreaded internet convinced me that this was something that could potentially be serious. Following two visits to my GP I was refered for an urgent ENT assessment at the local hospital. The appointment came through for 2 weeks into the future and rather than hang around I elected for a private examination and assessment. I had a needle biopsy which confiremd the presence of cancer cells in the swollen lymph gland. I then had the offending lymph gland removed and examined - this confirmed that I had cancer somewhere in the head and neck region. I presented these findings to the NHS ENT consultatant at my first appointment.
On 24th May the search for the primary cancer began in earnest with an endoscopy which was quickly followed by a CT scan. Meanwhile another lymph gland had swollen up to the size of half an egg, no doubt angry that its friend had been removed. On the 3rd of June it was confirrmed that I had tongue base cancer. For the technically minded I'm told that it was graded T1N2B. I was the refered to my local cancer hospital where I was to begin a programme of chemo and radiotherapy.
