Turning 70 on May 18 2021 and recently confirmed with tongue cancer T1 N1 M0 HPV positive. Due to commence radiotherapy soon.
I had a heart bypass in April 2018 and my GP promised me that I would be a new man afterwards - the ‘new nan’ never arrived. I had various tests and ended up being diagnosed with Myositis; which was confirmed by blood test that were positive for two auto-antibodies, NXP-2 & SCL-72, in March 2020. Instead of waiting for a muscle biopsy confirmation (due to Covid restrictions being put in place) I was whipped into hospital and given 1500ml of IVIG and pumped full of steroids (prednisolone) for months and a further 1500ml IVIG infusion in June. Mycophenolate was added to suppress my immune system further. At the time I did not realise that my immune system would be very much compromised and I was eventually cleared by Rheumatology and Neurology with no improvement in my general health.
I had my first Covid vaccination on February 13 where a Pfizer specialist advised me to have a swollen lymph node looked at by my GP.
After numerous expedited scans, and a tonsillectomy and biopsy, my diagnosis was confirmed on 5 May and here we are.
