Tonsil cancer.

TeresaAngela
TeresaAngela Member Posts: 9
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

This is what we have been told 

 

"Cancer is contained to his right tonsil (yay!) but he will need surgery (probably week after next), then 3ish weeks to heal, then 7 weeks of radiation and chemo. His type of cancer has an 85-90% cure rate though!" "Basically what they said matters most is that he didn’t get it from smoking, because then the prognosis goes down to 50%. They said even if it was in his lymph nodes (which would qualify it as stage 4) they’d still have an 85% cure rate. I guess with his type of cancer it’s very treatable"

 

She doesn't know what kind other than it's a long word. 

 

Any thoughts that can help fill in blanks?

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #2
    Let's get started

    TA,

    It all sounds normal, nothing unusual. If it was like mine it is Squamous Cell Carcinoma. (SCC).

    Good luck,

    Matt

  • TeresaAngela
    TeresaAngela Member Posts: 9
    edited February 2018 #3
    CivilMatt said:

    Let's get started

    TA,

    It all sounds normal, nothing unusual. If it was like mine it is Squamous Cell Carcinoma. (SCC).

    Good luck,

    Matt

    CM,

    CM,

    What kind(s) of chemo did you have? IE the actual drug(s)?

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #4
    Exactly

    TA,

    I did not have a traditional platinum based chemotherapy.  Instead, my oncologist suggested Erbitux and I accepted.  One loading dose to check reactions and 7 weekly doses. 

    Matt

  • Klingels
    Klingels Member Posts: 78
    #5
    Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Right Tonsil

    My 56 year old husband was diagnosed with stage 4a Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the right tonsil one year ago. He went through 35 radiation treatments and 3 large Cisplatin doses (chemotherapy) last summer. He is 7 months post treatment, and all his scans have come back clear.  There is hope!

  • TeresaAngela
    TeresaAngela Member Posts: 9
    edited February 2018 #6
    Were any of you, or your

    Were any of you, or your family members, able to work while going thru treatment?

  • swopoe
    swopoe Member Posts: 492
    edited February 2018 #7
    TeresaAngela said:

    Were any of you, or your

    Were any of you, or your family members, able to work while going thru treatment?

    My husband had tongue cancer,

    My husband had tongue cancer, but he had rads and chemo and worked through treatment. He worked from home on Thursdays when he had hydration (took his laptop to the hospital), took sick days on Tuesdays when he had chemo, and went into the office on MWF when he just had rads. He did take 2 weeks off at the end of treatment to recover and rest. So it is possible. My husband did really well with side effects. Best of luck to you.

  • Klingels
    Klingels Member Posts: 78
    edited February 2018 #8
    TeresaAngela said:

    Were any of you, or your

    Were any of you, or your family members, able to work while going thru treatment?

    work

    My husband was not able to work. Within 2 weeks of treatment he was home. He went back to work in December, but he was on medical leave for 6 months. I have seen others on this forum that manage to work through the treatment.

  • SuzJ
    SuzJ Member Posts: 446 Member
    #9
    I worked thru treatment.

    I worked thru treatment.

    I know I wasn't hitting my goals, but I did enough not to lose my job.

     

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    edited February 2018 #10
    Higher Prognosis..

    It sounds like he has HPV derived cancer.. Which does tend to respond well to treatment.. Lymphnode involvement can still be present and not STGIV.. It depends on the size, location and involvement I believe.. For instance, I had STGIII (right tonsil) and a lymhnode on that same side. If the lymphnode would have been located on the oppisite side of my throat, I would have been STGIV.

    Back when I was Dx, treatment was a little more aggressive, as I had the tonsils removed first, nine weeks of TPN which is Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU (three rounds, three weeks apart).., then seven weekly doses of Carboplatin, with 35 daily doses of IMRT Rads.., both sides..

    I too worked while in treatment, but I had a computer related job, and could connect to my work computers from home.

     

  • tom10e
    tom10e Member Posts: 2
    #11
    Left tonsil

    March 26, 2014, treatment complete June 24. It had spread to neck lymphnodes, was 4a. Only clue I had was lymphnodes. 8 weeks 40 radiation and 3 Cisplatin.

    Diagnosed, tonsils out and teeth cleaned and a couple removed. Treatment started within one month from diagnose. So far so good.

    Worked until week 5 of treatment.

  • jakesaround
    jakesaround Member Posts: 34
    #12
    I too had Stage IVa SCC with primary in right tonsil...

    Do the doctors suspect lymph node involvement? Just curious because if not I would think long and hard about receiving the chemo. I am not trying to talk you out of anything but my doctors told me that the only reason they recommended the chemo in my case was because I had 2 nodes involved and one showed extracapsular extensions. Otherwise I would have said a quick no thanks to the chemo personally. At least consider getting a second opinion about the chemo.

    Statistically at the time (August 2015) adding chemo to my surgery and radiation treatment increased my chance of survival by 5%. I understand chemo is a radio sensitizer and that it can run down stray cancer cells floating around in the body but if the cancer has not even spread to the nearby lymph nodes you may be treating something that just isn't there.

    Looking back at my situation and my quality of life after treatment, just 2 years out I’m not sure it was worth it. Don't get me wrong I really am grateful for the treatment I received and glad to be NED today. But hindsight is 20/20 and I just want to give you some perspective on which to go on.

    Also please insist on a PETCT before surgery, the docs can get you in for one in like a day or two and it really pays dividends for diagnostics and later comparison. Most docs may blow you off when you ask but really be persistent and insist on it.

     

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