Scared newbie

So true xx

Just wanted to say hiya, and the fears are completely normal.

When i was first diagnosed (tonsil cancer with spread to lymph nodes) i was utterly terrified and scared of treatment.

That was nearly 2 years ago and i am still here, and got through the treatment ...it isnt easy but its doable.

Any questions please do ask! Oh and stay away from google, you can drive yourself into a frenzy.

Trev

Thank you Trev , it’s the unknown & if need be getting hold of someone on the phone 24/7 hopefully I won’t need to x

Hi Aly , I was diagnosed a few weeks ago, Did not start my treatment yet. The waiting for this is so bad… But I have a good advice from this lovely people here …

I going to see my oncologist today- first time 

Hi Basbas I think because they didn’t see me from one month to another they are going to push my treatment forward , I will just have to wait & see what the oncologist says as I’ve not had the appointment through yet xx

Can you let me know what the oncologist says please ? Good luck xx

Hi Aly14

I am a little further on my journey. I had a neck dissection, tumour removed, 27 lymph nodes and tonsils out. Same cancer as Hazel and Trev I think. I’m almost at the end of week 3 and the radiotherapy has been ok for me so far and I can still eat and drink. I haven’t felt tired or anything as yet. I had some nerve pain but that was triggered from the neck dissection. Soon sorted with pain killers.  They also prescribed me sickness patches which stay on your arm for a week and are amazing. I can see from others’ stories that there will be more side effects ahead for me but I thought it might be encouraging to know that you could get through the first few weeks pretty straightforwardly. 
best wishes,

Clare 

Hi Clare it’s good to hear your side effects aren’t bad hopefully it won’t get much worse for you , I know there will be some side effects but I really hope I can manage them & still have a bit of normality , take care x

Everyone's experience differs, for myself - the first few weeks were really easy, i actually gained weight. I found the last couple of weeks a bit tougher. 

But pain relief helped a lot, and i was well enough to carry on working (office job but worked remotely) all the way through treatment- i think i dropped to four hour days for a couple of weeks.

I would say the main things are to listen to your body, dont be afraid to say 'i need more pain relief' if you need it and really do stay off google.

Initially i was given just cocodamol to manage discomfort and struggled, but when i asked for better pain relief and got oramorph it made a dramatic difference to my ability to manage.

Oh Trev W that does give me hope , I’m already on codeine, paracetamol, ibuprofen & 2.5 of oramorph & that’s before treatment  my mouth has been so sore since last June , I wonder once treatment starts , could they beat that ?