Hello & Help

Hi Karen and welcome to the community. So sorry to see you here but as you are it's a good place for support and advice.

Rather than Google have a look at the recent threads on nasopharyngeal cancer. If you type nasopharyngeal cancer in the search box it will bring up all the recent threads. You could post there. I'll tag a couple of the members and perhaps they can pop on to give you a hand. Anghog Becks80 I hope they don't mind.

I am three plus years clear of base of tongue cancer and my RT was in a similar area. You will get sore but the pain is manageable. If you get offered a feeding tube grab it. Keeping well fed while you can't swallow will help you heal much faster than if you lose weight during treatment. 

Stick with us. There are lots of people here to help you through. It's a few weeks out of your life but be prepared for a marathon not a sprint of a recovery.Trust your team. All this is new to you but they do it every day and they are good at it.

Best wishes

hi Karen, welcome to the group. The first bit of advice I would give you is don't go on google, it will scare the life out of you, with outdated and a lot of false information. You are right the treatment can be brutal, with many side effects, you will not get all the side effects, but the ones you do get they will give you medication for. I would always advice anyone who is offered a feeding tube (RIG or PEG) to have one. There are many of us on here who have been through the treatment and came out the other side, it is doable and you will be able to do it. We are all on here to help if we can, any questions or worries you have just ask away. All the best.

Regards Ray.

Hi Karen. Welcome from me I am Hazel 4 years post radiotherapy and chemo for tonsil cancer with several affected lymph nodes. As others have said do not google you’ll scare yourself silly. There is good info out there but knowing where to look is the key. Stick with us on here we’ve been there done it got the t shirt so to speak. 
I had a ng tube fitted retrospectively at week 3 it was my lifesaver saver plus helped in recovery. Treatment is brutal  it’s hard I was 61 when diagnosed now happily living my life. I had a mate who I met going through treatment he had nasopharyngeal cancer we still

meet up several times a year. 
Any questions just ask on here. We’re here to help if we can. 
The waiting’s the hardest part it’s fear of the unknown  

Hazel x

Thank you so much for your reply. I will look forward (if that is the right phrase) to reading your blog and really appreciate your advice. Karen 

Hi Ray thank you so much for you reply I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I am sure over the coming weeks I will have questions and I will ask instead of Googling. Thank you Karen 

Hi Hazel thank you so much for your reply, it was really helpful and hit the mark, I think the waiting is very hard. I will go and have a read of your blog too. I'm sure I will have many more questions to come and you have made me feel at ease to ask si again many thanks. Karen 

Hi Karen and hello to Beesuit and everyone else on the thread. Your diagnosis is almost identical to my own diagnose last August. The treatment will be challenging but I can testify that you will get through it and the success rate of the treatment for this cancer is excellent. I underwent 9 weeks of chemo combined infusion and tablet form. Then 35 sessions of radiotherapy with another two chemo sessions. You will be given exercises to keep your jaw mobile… do them every day religiously it makes a huge difference. Ask me anything you want Karen and I will let you know my experience… I was given the all clear at the end of June and although eating some things is still a challenge… I am pretty much there and just back from a 10 day cruise….stay positive and as I said ask me anything xx

Cheers just picked this up and jumped on… hope ur doing well x

Anghog said:

Cheers just picked this up and jumped on… hope ur doing well x

I’m good thanks and thank you for helping Karen out. So pleased you are seeing the light of day. 

Thank you for your reply and the offer of fielding questions. There is one that is on my mind today about recovery. As I live away from my treatment hospital I will be an inpatient for 6 weeks Mon - Fri and allowed home at the weekend. From what I can remember I will only have 3 sessions of Cytotoxic chemo Wk 1, 3 & 6 with 2 mins of radiotherapy everyday. I have been told to expect to start to feel the effects of the treatment probably starting week 2. Am I right in thinking tho that even though the treatment ends after 6 weeks due to the cumulative effect to the treatment I will continue to experience the side effects for a few weeks after treatment has finished and before I start to feel like I am improving? Many thanks Karen