possible vocal cord cancer

Radiotherapy treatment for HPV16 plus related cancer is tough but normally has a very good outcome, not all suffer the severe side effects.... but the choice is down to yourselves...At 68 I was not keen on the treatment but felt that it was my best option...

Peter 

What sort of surgery is being discussed?

I had base of tongue cancer. I couldn't have surgery so went straight to RT

It's a challenge but you are well supported and outcomes are good. RT targeted at the larynx maybe won't have such an impact on his mouth so perhaps he could continue to eat soft food. The treatment takes fifteen minutes and is itself painless

Hope you can all come to a decision that fits

Sorry to hear about your husband's vocal chord cancer Popsyboy.  My husband had a different type of cancer - squamous cell carcinoma which had spread into his ear - and he was faced with a similar dilemma about RT.  He had major surgery just over 6 weeks ago to remove his outer ear and most of the inner ear, superficial parotidectomy, and neck dissection, along with the T3 tumour and other things.  At 75 he is almost recovered, but it's knocked him for 6 despite being pretty fit for his age, and the skin graft where his ear was has died.  The ENT surgeon said there is no absolute need for RT therapy as the margins were clear, but there were other reasons for it and if he chose to have it then it would need to start soon.  

I think you're right about 'blithely talking about radiotherapy,' although I think it's well meant and usually suggested for the best possible outcome.  Clearly many patients don't really have a choice, but my husband does and he has decided against it.  I and our adult children said it would have to be his choice and his alone, but once made we all felt it was the right decision for him.  The three main reasons were that at his age the treatment would probably take a year out of his life at a time when he may not have many good ones left (he also has mild Parkinsons Disease), the unhealed wound which apparently could be treated with dressings but the effects of RT on healthy skin can be severe, and the prospect of enduring a gruelling course of treatment only for the cancers to return.  In fact he is going to have another biopsy next week on new lesions on his scalp.

I don't think there was a right or wrong answer in his case, and maybe not in your husband's either.  It's a difficult decision that only he and you can make, but once you make it you just have to make the best of it.  I have to say that all the consultants, surgeons and nurses we have seen have been really good about it and not tried to push in a particular direction, and now respect his decision.