New here tonsil cancer

Hi  Michaela thank you for sharing really appreciate it . How were you with sickness and mouth ulcers etc ? Was that radiotherapy 5 on 2 off for the whole 35 sessions ? Did you need any feeding tubes fitted at all ? Sorry for all the questions but trying to piece an all round picture as all the info you read is absolutely terrifying tbh 

Hi Hazel thank you !! Appreciate all the advice I can get on this especially from people who know excatly what im going through as they've had thier own battle . Did you suffer from much nausea ? Mouth ulcers etc ? I have a massive issue with being sick ( as in vomiting) I really don't handle it well so that part of it is really scary . Thanks again for replying. 

Hi. I had no nausea I was lucky in that respect I did take my anti sickness meds even when I didn’t feel sick I remained proactive. I was given steroid injection during chemo going in and a course for a few days after. If you feel that they tablets aren’t working tell the team there are lots of others they can administer. I found sipping soda water helped. Yes I did get ulcers it’s from around week 2 they did last a good while. I was given gelclair on prescription which helped. Some hospitals are trialing photo mobilisation therapy. Which is a game tell wand emitting a light to help avoid ulcers. It works for some worth asking your consultant. 
Try to avoid online too

Much  as you can end up down  a rabbit hole  remember foremost that head and neck k cancers do have a great cure rate.  

hugs Hazel 

Thank you Hazel , my name is Wendy by the way . Im sure I will be back to you all with more questions!! You may get a little fed up of me lol . Im already feeling brighter since ive recieved everyone's replies ,it really helps knowing there are people I can talk to who know how I feel . You are all a blessing thank you !! 

No problem Wendy a lot of us are still on here as we got help when we were diagnosed . Hence the helping others . Treatments hard but if I can do it anyone can I was a wimp but it was better than the alternative. 
have a look at my blog it might help there’s links to others there. You’ll see I spend time in Spain . I’m there at the moment we’ve brought our grandson 14 out with us for a month. 
Hugs 

hazel. 

I will check out your blogs ! Thank you !! Hope you have a wonderful time in Spain with your Grandson..Family is everything isn't it especially when something like this happens ! Speak soon ! 

The anti-sickness drugs certainly worked for me with chemo. 

I have been taking some this week after my tonsillectomy and ive found them to be very helpful so hopefully will be helpful through the treatment as well 

I had two surgeries, the first was a tonsillectomy, the second was neck dissection to remove lymph nodes and Tors to remove rest of cancer at tonsil. The consultant had hoped that surgery was only going to be required but the only lymph node that contained cancer was larger than expected so radiotherapy alone was advised by the team. I didn’t suffer too much from radiation burns but some days if I done too much after the treatment it zapped my energy and did make me feel nauseated at times.

Sorry to read your news.

I was diagnosed as Stage 4 tonsil cancer with a spread to my neck lymph node and my hip. I was told I had probably a year with palliative care only now I am 3.5 years clear after the consultant agreed to give me chemo and then radiotherapy if I responded to the chemo followed by separate radio to my hip. I had to pay for the hip.

So yes it's very tough but try and keep positive, much easier to say I know. We had some very dark days and a lot of crying. I got counselling support via McMillian , worth trying?

I had as much chemo as I could take, 6 sessions with a pump for a week following each session then 30 sessions of radiotherapy. The chemo was grim but I was not sick and between session I got out walking and even went up a mountain in Wales. The radio was by far the hardest, I got lots of large very painful ulcers. I was on a stack of different pain killers. But we had a chart on the wall and put a smiley face on each day done. I made myself drive in each day which gave me a focus and importantly arranged for as early in the morning as possible so I had the rest of the day to recover.

I didn't need a feeding tube but my partner was amazing blending everything including Xmas dinner! She also added full fat cream to everything and almost force fed me rice pudding  with Mrs Crimbels Macaroons and tinned peaches to keep my weight up, whatever it takes . I did lose a lot of weight but avoided having a tube. 

I was lucky with my teeth only having one bad one removed. The whole process was sometimes confusingly fast and at others seemed to drag on it's a real roller coaster but you'll probably have a team of support nurses who you can contact and who will contact you, mine were fantastic. 

I hope things go as well as they can, stay strong and keep posting , reading on here, my partner found it invaluable.

Geraint