Throat and lymph nodes

Hi Lee,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis… but you've managed to find your way onto this site Welcome x first advice stay on here, there are so many wonderful supportive people willing to answer any question you might have.

Im two weeks post treatment and still in the throws of the side effects of Radiotherapy Ive had a particularly bad experience spending 4 out of 7 weeks in hospital.If I can do it …..anyone can !

Once you start treatment you will feel less terrified …. fear of the unkown totally normal .Your Radiotherapy team will be with you every step of the way , your Oncologist has planned everything to blast the cancer HPV+ cancers respond very well to treatment I-was told 90% cure rate x

This has not been an easy road for me but im forever grateful that I get to wake see my lovely teenage sons face every morning and husband )You will need support frim your gamily and friends ,sounds like you have lots of support at home take it!!!

Try and do as many nice things as you can before you get into treatment I wish id gone out for more meals had a weekend away etc try to keep ypur brain busy with things you like to do dont let it stay focused on the fear if possible .

Goid luck Debbie

Thank you.

We've birthday meal out tonight for our sons 18th birthday,  then his first pub crawl on Saturday. 

But im Finding I'm losing my taste, and I'm shattered and this is before treatment... is this normal?

This us going to sound ridiculously vain, but I'm most scared of the dental hospital .

Off to get my hair done today, 

Can you recommend any things to 'get in' before treatment starts?

I'm planning on making some meals for the freezer xx

Hi Lee. Welcome. 
The best advice I can give is to take all the meds your team will give you, don’t be brave. If you’re in pain or something isn’t working tell your RT team who is your daily point of contact. If you are offered a feeding tube take it. At some stage you will be unable to swallow. 
Stay with us. There are people here to watch your back. 
I am nearly five years clear living a good life. I made a pretty uneventful recovery which is the norm. 
It’s a few weeks out of your life. Cure rates are in excess of 90% if you are HPV positive. 
Best wishes and enjoy Christmas xx

LeeN said:

Can you recommend any things to 'get in' before treatment starts?

I'm planning on making some meals for the freezer xx

Freezer meals for family are a good idea. 
You’ll get all the creams and mouth preps you need from your support team. 
If you email the Swallows they do great support boxes 

Chris@theswallows.org.uk

They are free

Hi Lee welcome to the club none of us wanted to join. But now  you’ve found us stick with us. If I can do it anyone can. . Best advise if yih have a feeding tube fitted use  if yoh haven’t and need a ng tube get one . There’s no points for bejng brave plus take meds as directed. In meanwhile remember head and neck cancers respond extremely well tj treatment in over 5 years now. Eat these next few weeks all your favourite food. 
blog below might help. 
Hazel 

I lost taste pretty early on and was very tired even before treatment .Try not to worry about dental apt some trusts seem to be more happy to whip teeth out than others .I was unlucky and had 8 removed due to density issues…,, Most people dont have any dental work done.but now 3mths later i dont even think about it .. you cant tell unless I open my mouth really wide .

We had a party for my sons 18th then week later he past his driving test then few days later I told him and his brother the crappy news…Enjoy every single moment lee with your fanily eat the things you can still taste 

All the best hope he has fab 18th

Debbie

Hello Lee

Welcome to this super-helpful and supportive forum - I found it invaluable when I was going through treatment. I finished just over a year ago, bounced back pretty quickly and I'm fine now apart from dry mouth. The Rhod Gilbert programme was great but I must admit to thinking "well I'm tougher than he is"! I didn't have to lose any teeth - if you feel that yours are in good nick, you could question why if the hospital wants to remove some. 

There's no denying that the treatment is tough. My worst problem was nausea: towards the end of treatment I couldn't keep anything down, not even water, so I  ended up in hospital for a few days and that's when a nasogastric (NG) tube was a lifesaver. I used overnight pump feeding which was not as bad as I thought - you don't feel it. I had the tube for about 5 weeks. 

You will probably feel incredibly tired so it's great that you've got your family to rally round. I don't know how I would have managed without my partner, cooking soft food for me and nagging me to eat!  It's good to get out for a little walk each day if you can.  Do follow the swallowing exercises which you'll be given, they are proven to reduce side effects and promote recovery. 

Good luck! You should be feeling much better by the Spring, and able to enjoy the summer with all this behind you. 

Catriona 

Hello Lee,  welcome to the forum full of advice , tips and virtual hugs . Eat your favorite foods and do some nice things with the family , I had slight loss of taste and was a little tired , I didn't loose any teeth but got a filling done . I had the rig fitted over a week ago and recently started my treatment I'm on my second day ...get a calendar to put down appointments and treatment days to tick off it really does help . I'm finding I'm sleeping as soon as I get home , I have a 22 year old son and telling him was hard for me but he dealt with it pretty well . The advice and support I've recieved from people on her has been such a good help and support so any questions ask .