Hi Dani and Raz,
I feel like i know you from all your great posts on the head and neck forum. Thank you very much for all the help getting through treatment and etc.
I'm not sure about all the t's and n's and m's of my situation
but was diagnosed oropharyngeal at base of tounge in october after lump in right neck in july that had spead to both sides of neck . (took awhile).
and started 35 radiations and 2 cisplatins in dec 2023 that ended jan. 12, 2024.
i had all the side effects (no tube) but i'm coming along well now after 4 months post treatment.
i also had a stroke after 2 cisplatins so they stopped that.( it's a drag and i lost some peripheral vision but everything else still works)
I had follow up pet scan a week ago and the onc said everything looked ok on the lymphs and no spead to further body.
the radiologist, who did the pet, pointed out something at base of tounge that was questionable but my oncologist said it didn't worry him in his endoscope a few days later. so , that's the good news !
yay ! next pet scan in july.
My question is regarding wether or not I should get the gardisil vaccine to prevent or help stop reoccurrence and safeguard against other strains. (I'm 65 years old and single hoping to meet someone nice)
I've never had vaccine before. Also I'm concerned about wether i could give the hpv 16 to somebody else.
Just wondered if you had any thoughts on that.
I think it would probably help
( at least one dose , as the w.h.o. says you get pretty good protection from one. )
Again , Thank you Dani and Raz for helping everybody out so much. It sure filled out a lot of gaps in my knowledge about things. And congratulations on your good results recently !!!
My question is regarding wether or not I should get the gardisil vaccine to prevent or help stop reoccurrence and safeguard against other strains. (I'm 65 years old and single hoping to meet someone nice)
HPV16/18 are the strains responsible for most cancers with HPV16 being almost uniquely responsible in HPV driven oropharyngeal cancer. It's a sexually transmitted virus which is why the vaccine is given to (hopefully) sexually inexperienced youngsters.
If you are sexually active after a long break and have never come across the other high risk variants, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, and 59 then you would get some protection but the others are responsible for only a small percentage of HPV driven cancer.
Recurrence is down to whether the treatment has been successful and Gardisil will not protect you against that because the virus hides from vaccines
I asked my oncologist whether my husband should have the vaccine and was told no.
PS thank you for your good wishes. I had an avid PET just like you. I was biopsied rather than rescanned and I was clear.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
I wrote a blog about my cancer. just click on the link below
https://todaymycoffeetasteslikechristmasincostarica.com
