It’s really good to see people checking in on their treatment anniversaries to report their progress, so here’s my contribution. (I certainly found this very encouraging in my early days of treatment and recovery.)
Diagnosed with tonsil cancer in mid September 2020, January 2nd was the day I ended my treatment following a (TORS) tonsillectomy, neck dissection and 6 weeks of chemoradiation. (If you want more details just click on my ridiculously long profile.) As everyone who’s been through this will attest, it was tough going and it got even tougher for a while until the healing started.
Four years on, aged 67, and all is going really well, despite one or two bumps in the road along the way which eventually came to nothing.
Significant changes to my life have proved minimal. The only legacies I really notice are the dryness in the mouth when eating starchy foods, which means I always have to have water nearby just in case it gets stuck, and occasional itchiness around my dissection scar, particularly if it’s been exposed to the sun. I did suffer from a very stiff neck for a long time but that has eased. I think a combination of Pilates and swimming half an hour of breast stroke a couple of times a week have really helped that, so much so that I no longer do any dedicated morning neck exercises.
One big change is that I’ve found a cancer-savvy dentist and consequently am very attentive to my dental care. I also try to keep fit with regular running, cycling and swimming all of which help both physically and mentally.
There is, for me at least, a mental legacy to all of this but I find this has also shrunk over time. I still get little changes in my mouth and throat, eg sores, ulcers, lumps, but have learned to ignore them as best I can until they go away. The latest change has been an occasional temporary clogging in my right ear which, I was assured at my latest check up with my surgeon, is nothing to worry about. (She said there was some evidence of acid reflux in my throat and that this might be contributing to it, so I’m going to maybe try Lansoprazole for a bit to see if it makes a difference.)
But all in all, and despite those minor caveats, life is pretty much back to normal and everything is heading in the right direction. If you’re in the early stages of this horrible disease please do take heart and be optimistic as this thing is eminently beatable.
Wishing you all the best.
M
Wishing you all the best.
Happy New Year Mark.
It’s wonderful to read a success story like yours. We have a few new folk here dreadfully worried about what’s to happen and reading how well you’ve done is an inspiration.
Long may it continue. I wish you all the very best for 2025 xxx
