Tonsil Cancer - Just Diagnosed

Hi Juan and a warm welcome from me and everyone in the group.  I am sorry you find yourself here, but you are in the right place for sound advice and a listening ear when it is needed.  There is a post, which I am sure Dani will be along shortly to link to, which has some great advice.  In the meantime the best advice at the moment is not to Google anything about your diagnosis and treatment as invariable the information you will be given is out of date - treatments are rapidly advancing for head and neck cancers and although the treatment is really tough it is not like that of some years ago that Google may show you.  Also hold onto the fact that most head and neck cancers are very treatable with a high cure rate.  You may lose a year of your life to treatment and recovery, but you will gain may more years of good quality life as a result.

Hi, and thank you PeterPFJTHS 

 Juan 

This thread is a good start but stay with us and we’ll keep you on the right path 

community.macmillan.org.uk/.../helpful-tips-for-those-about-to-start-treatment

Hi Juan Now you’ve found us stay with us. We’re all happy to help I’m 8 years post chemo radiotherapy for hpv driven tonsil cancer with lymph node involvement. 35 radiotherapy sessions and 2 of planned 3 chemo. 
link below will show  you a webinar I did  with my oncologist  about diagnosis. Treatment isn’t easy but if I can do it anyone can. 
hugs 

• Hazel x

Hi Juan and welcome i am sorry to hear you are going through this ,i finished treatment in January this year and was given the all clear in June, like you i had six weeks of RT and Chemo .A feeding tube is essential as swallowing can become difficult you should be assigned a specialist nurse discuss this with her/him .Pain relief get this in place before you start suffering any pain you may not but i did and i was a bit backward in coming forward and went from off the shelf pain killers to fairly high doses of morphine in a short period of time and once it gets hold its hard to get on top so be pro active .The first 2 weeks of treatment were fine but after that it was tough for about 10 weeks but keep talking to your Radiotherapy team and specialist nurse they are the ones who will get you through it with as little discomfort as possible .Good Luck stay with us and ask questions if you need to .

Avoid Dr Google...stick with websites such as Macmillan, NHS and Cancer Research...and this forum.

Eat the things you really like before treatment starts...appetite and taste could disappear for 6-12 months.

I went on a short break with my wife before starting CRT...kinda took my mind off things to come...

Look out for hiccups ...antiemetic dexamethasone can cause them...very annoying... ask for methylprednisolone or prednisolone instead.