Hi everyone and I am new to this forum.
Let me introduce myself.
i am a 63 year old male in reasonable health and was diagnosed in September with cancer.
i had sudden swelling show up on the right side of my neck that wasn’t painful and i had no indication what so ever other than the swelling that something was wrong. Normally I would shake things like this off and say I will give it a couple of days and if not better go to my GP.
thankfully this time I didn’t. Firstly because the swelling went down in a couple of days and I had no pain or discomfort. The upside to this was I went to my GP the day after it swelled as this was the first available appointment. He advised me my Lymph nodes were swollen however I had no signs of an infection so I needed an ultra ultrasound. I went and had an ultrasound that day and back to my GP the next and I had multiple swollen lymph nodes. My GP then let me know we needed to Biopsy so I asked if he could refer me to GCUH as this would prevent running around and if something was found delaying by then having to go to the hospital.
i am so glad I did as I got an appointment in ear nose and throat and they had a look at my neck which the swelling was gone but there was swollen nodes. The doctor used a camera and looked at my soft palate through my nose and found a growth that I wasn’t aware of. They took biopsies on the day and also scheduled a biopsy for my neck. The growth on the soft palate was Squamous and the lymph nodes also turned out to be cancer and they believed the squamous was primary. When they did the PET scan they actually found the primary was on my tonsil so as it turned out I had 3 tumors. I was advised to undergo radiation and chemo and not surgery as they believed they can get them without removing anything . As they said once cut out you can’t put anything back. With radiation and chemo I get to keep all my soft palate if they kill the cancer.
I started treatment in December undergoing 7 chemo ( Cisplatin ) and 35 radiation.
i have completed all chemo and have my last radiation today. I had a RIG installed as they believed that the radiation would prevent me from swallowing.
I can say that while treatment journey has not been easy I have been able to manage everything thrown at me and maintain a positive outlook.
chemo didn’t really bother me as I no side effects other that heartburn and dry mouth.
radiation took my taste buds and gave me more dry mouth but I did exactly what the treatment team advised me and I am proud to say that I have bee able to eat the entire time and have had no need for the RIG.
Each journey in treatment is different for each individual but I can say that I have been able to manage mine very well , maintain metal, emotional and physical strength majority of the time.
I have had bad days but my end goal to clear cancer from my body was my over driving force.
I have had amazing support and a fantastic team treating me so I feel blessed .
i do have some hints and tips for managing through treatment so if I can assist or answer any questions please reach out and I will let you know if I can help.
by the way I lost less than 5 kg during treatment.
Pleas don’t feel I am bragging but I see this as shedding a positive light on a journey that others may take and possibly assist them in making the journey that bit easier.
i won’t know for 3 months if they killed all the cancers so fingers crossed
