Third time unlucky? Back on the Fast Track again...

Just offloading here. Some of you may remember my previous posts

Hubby had a radical neck dissection for throat cancer a couple of years ago, and then was diagnosed in March with tongue cancer - delayed diagnosis due to phone consultations only during covid. We have four children, who were really scared at the recent diagnosis. He has had two tongue ops in April and June, and his tongue is looking good from a cancer point of view now.

Unfortunately he started getting neck, ear and sciatic hip pains about a month ago. GP did hip x-ray (all fine) and gave strong painkillers, and referred to ENT for syringing.

He was seen for tongue follow up on Wednesday (delayed by a few months due to covid), and almost didn't tell the Maxfax consultant how bad he was really feeling. Thankfully I was there, to add my tuppenceworth, and they offered for him to see an ENT doc and get ears stringed that afternoon. During the ENT consult, they looked down his nose and throad, and they found a "bobbly" area just above his larynx, which needs biopsying asap, and MRI.

Since his appointment Wednesday he has been getting more symptomatic of cancer, (difficulty swallowing, coughing gunk up, food / drink coming through his nose, tiredness - though he was initially on huge amounts of painkiller - neck pain and tightness, voice difficulty, reduced appetite and weightloss, and he thinks he will be back on that treadmill again. I do too. We are scared of what will happen next. We are battle weary from the previous two cancers and the prolonged recovery. Three times now, he has had to relearn to eat. Our children are 6, 9, 12 and 15, and it would be the most awful thing ever, to tell them that he has cancer again. Things are also tight financially - he starts a phased return to work next week after 6 months off, and we can't afford to drop to half his wage if he doesn't return then. I am just back at work after a few months at home looking after the family. In March we had hoped his critical illness insurance would support us, but it turns out it only pays out again after 5 years cancer-free (even though it was a different cancer).

Has anyone else had a journey like this? What can I be doing practically? Only a very few people know that he has had cancer again in March as he is a very private person, and hates me to talk about it, but talking through things helps me.

I have also posted an abridged version of this in the Friends & Family Forum.

Thankyou for listening xx