Throat cancer treatment completed. Awaiting results

Hi TurboTrace08  and welcome to the Online Community but so sorry to hear about your husbands journey and the challenges you are facing.

A cancer diagnosis like this in the family can be such a challenging and stressful time but reaching out to the community will give you the opportunity to ask questions and getting support from others who are on the ‘exact’ same journey.

The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you consider joining our supportive Head and neck cancer support group. This is a safe place to talk to others who may have a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support from family members who are navigating the same journey.

When it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting family you may also benefit from joining our general Carers only support group where you will connect with others navigating the same support challenges.

To join a group first click on the “Bold Link” I have created above then once the group page opens clicking “Click to Join” when the black banner appeared or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)

You can then post in a group when you’re ready by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can also scroll through other members posts and click “Reply” to get involved.

Our Support Line teams are available 7 days a week, 8am-8pm on freephone 0808 808 00 00, email or live webchat and we also have our Ask an Expert section but do allow a few working days for a reply.

Talking to people face to face can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.

Do get back to me if you need further help.

Hi TurboTrace08  Mike has pointed you in all the right directions. I'm Dani and I'm a four year survivor of oropharyngeal cancer. I hang out in the Head and Neck Cancer Group and I along with lots of others, patients and carers, will have lots of suggestions so come over and say hello.

I can tell you that most of us are not any semblance of our old selves for six months. My oncologist told me the cancer would take a year out of my life but that he would cure me. He wasn't far wrong on the first and spot on the second. The treatment is a real challenge and we suffer what is essentially PTSD. There is an excellent essay written by psychologist Dr Peter Harvey ex Leeds University Hospital about the recovery from cancer. It resonates with lots of us. Both of you having a read of that would be a good start After Cancer

Best wishes

Thank you. This at least gives me some time scales. We actually thought a year which is actually up early  April, which is when we both got Covid and it all kicked off for him. But 6 months from end of treatment would seem more realistic.  

Would you believe my husband is from Leeds where the paper was written! Spooky! 

Beesuit - thank you for the link to the paper After Cancer. It's been a bad day for us both today. This paper has helped us both so much. Thank you for sharing x 

In the melee of everything,  I forgot to put my husband's cancer staging.  It's T4aN2bM0.

He was Stage 2 then by the time he'd got round to treatment,  he was Stage 3. He had one area of necrosis with a squamous cell carcinoma. 

TurboTrace08 said:

Beesuit - thank you for the link to the paper After Cancer. It's been a bad day for us both today. This paper has helped us both so much.

You’re very welcome. It’s a long  and difficult journey especially as friends and family think you’re better when you’ve finished treatment. 
Even oncologists will agree that RT to the throat is about as bad as it gets. 
Keep going. It’s worth it xx

Thank you. It's done us both a lot of good x