Lower radiotherapy for oral cancer HPV

Hi Tongue123 

I had the full six weeks but I have a contact who had  just 4 and she has done well. Three years clear now 

I’m sure you will have ample opportunity to discuss the plan forward with your oncologist. 
In my case I had to have RT as my tongue cancer was inoperable. No nodes showed up on CT or ultrasound but very small mets won’t show up anyway so I had radiation to my neck as a precaution 

It is only natural to be anxious about radiotherapy as it is an unknown variable that you have no experience of. There are so many people on the forum who have had radio including myself so you will get lots of support here and good advice. Have some more discussions with your medical team about the benefits of radio in your particular case. I was told that for me it was advisable to mop up any cancer cells that might be left behind after my surgery. (Not the same as yours as mine was for jaw cancer) I took my surgeon's advice.Radio can be tough but with the painkillers they provide is manageable.

It boils down to putting your head down and going for it and counting down the days until it is finished. Recovery after can take a while but I got back to doing everything I was doing before.

You can do this.

Lyn

Thank you all for your messages back so quick. I lost alot of weight as had tonsils out first then tongue and neck operation. I’ve been trying to put weight on but hard as so anxious all the time.I  srt RT next week! Just worried I won’t make it through all the sessions even though it’s 1 week less.   I’ve even had to hold back on a couple of weeks to start as I was so fearful of going ahead  I had the mask fitting and cried through most of it. The staff all so lovely to me probably think I’ve lost the plot! 
x

Hi I had 7 weeks radiotherapy 70 gy  plus 3 chemo had no choice as I had tonsil cancer and 7 lymph nodes. Remember HPV driven tumours respond well to treatment. We wilL all help you with tips I was 61 I did it so can you. 
hugs Hazel xx

Thank you   I’ll be posting on here during treatment. Just got to pull myself together and get on with it. You’ve all got brilliant advise  

4 weeks that’s even better

Honestly it’s doable. A day at a time. Xx

You will be able to make it through all the sessions, put your head down and go for it. Look on it as a necessary, to give yourself the best chance of a cure, and it does give high rates of cure.  Once you have had a couple of sessions you will feel better about it. Your team won't think you have lost the plot, they are great people who care. Any worries or questions just ask. You can do it.

Ray

Hi!

I had 57 after surgery that wasn't too easy as well You will definitely notice these 50 but this number is less challenging to manage than anything that is 60+ I managed to keep on eating myself throughout the therapy Makes things simpler during recovery process

Thank you for letting me know. What sort of things did you eat? I had all this with 2 surgeries one for tonsils out then another for tongue base and neck dissection. I lost a lot of weight so trying to put it back on again. Milky weetabix worked well when I had surgery