Tonsil cancer

Morning Amanda Don't despair. This cancer is curable. I'm coming upon to six years out of treatment for the same thing. Pop over to the HEAD AND NECK CANCER FORUM and say hello. There are lots of us there to support you.

Thank you.is the radiotherapy hard?did you have a peg?

PEG? No. My trust didn't routinely place them but offered a nasogastric tube if I needed it. I did for 8 weeks. If you are offered one please take it up. 

Most people find it impossible to swallow by week four and the effects peak at two or three weeks after you have finished. The RT is hard, there is no sugar coating it, but the pain can be mitigated to a manageable level.

Do you have support at home? You are likely to need it.

Hi Dani.yes I have a great husband and friends supporting me.Do they manage your pain well?

Honestly Amanda it really is doable. It's good that your husband is there to support you. You are likely to need help with pain management and feeding. Some people do manage to maintain oral intake sufficiently to keep their weight stable but  it is hard work. I suspect most do it through sheer stubbornness and refusal to give in. 

For me I just went with the flow and made a very good recovery.

Eliza64 said:

Do they manage your pain well?

Yes. You can't get rid of it entirely but my morphine worked really well at dealing with the background pain. You can't do much about the pain of swallowing which is why I fed by tube, with a pump overnight. This left me free to go about trying to be as normal as possible through the day.

It's only a few weeks after all.

Recovery takes longer. It was 12 weeks before I could eat and six months before I felt anywhere near "normal"  RT leaves you very very tired for weeks after you finish

My oncologist told me the cancer would take a year out of my life but that he would cure me. It did and he did

I see you’ve joined our group. Have a read through some of the threads. There are quite a few folk just starting out.