Scared newbie

Hi Aly14 and welcome to the forum.

It's perfectly normal to be scared of the unknown - I think we've all been there!  And our imaginations do a grand job of making things worse.

There can be a lot of side effects to the treatment but something to bear in mind is that we're all different and not all the side effects are felt to the same extent - just take one day at a time.

During treatment it's important that you let your team know how you are and whether  you're struggling with anything as they can prescribe a host of different meds to help.   Hopefully you've also been given a contact number for a Clinical Nurse Specialist who can be a great help for any questions/concerns.

Take any pain meds by rote rather than as and when you feel uncomfortable as it's much easier to stay on top of the pain than respond to it.

You may well feel quite fatigued so enlist the help and support of your family to help get you through.

There are lots of us who have received similar diagnoses and been through various treatments so you'll find lots of help and support on the forum. - just shout when you need to and someone will respond.

All the best.

Linda x

Thank you , I have been on this forum for a couple of weeks but didn’t know exactly where my cancer was so I couldn’t post , I found out today , I’m glad I’ve joined xx

Hi Aly. Welcome from me as well. Sorry you’ve had to join our club. I’m 3.5 years post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer with several affected lymph nodes. Happily living  my life and riding my bike. Treatments hard but if I can do it anyone can Rant in here ask questions we will always try ti help. 
ps my uvula melted during treatment and my soft palate had cancer cells on it as well plus several lymph nodes main cancer was in tonsil 
Hazel 

Hi Aly and welcome. Linda and Hazel are spot on. We all get side effects but not all of them. They can all be mitigated. Your team are the ones to talk things through with but we can all fine tune things for you...having been there so to speak.

Being the backbone of a family is a big thing to live up to when you are poleaxed by treatment so let them in. to look after your. Your disabilities will be temporary so try n to to worry too much about letting anybody down.

I'll tag one of our other members...I'm sure she won't mind. She has a very similar diagnosis to yours and will be going through treatment at the same time. It might be handy to swap notes JustJo

Stick around. There's lots of help and support here

Thank you so much , I feel like I’m not on my own now x

Thank you I’ve read your blog , you are so positive & an inspiration xx

Thank you Dani x

You're definitely not on your own Aly.  It can feel that way when you're first diagnosed as head and neck cancers aren't as widely talked about.

Linda x

HimAly bless you thank you, I did it has it was the only thing I could control !Now it’s great it’s helping others around the world. .Any questions just ask we’re all here to help .You’re not on your own family and friends are great but you can’t beat first hand experience,sad as that sounds 

Hazel