Tonsil cancer w with lymph node involvement

Ain't she a Doll

Take Care God Bless-Russ

Hi PKDTV,

I hope you are doing well on your journey. My husband has the same treatment plan...7 weeks radiation + 3 rounds of chemo. He started on July 14th, so he's halfway through radiation and has 1 more chemo to go. I have found the following to be very helpful. 1) Salt & baking soda rinses. He started rinses immediately and has not had any mouth sores or pain. He probably does atleast 6 per day. I purchased small refillable bottles so that I could put them in different bathrooms and in his lunch bag when he goes to work. It's always available. 2) Juice. I try to get calories and fluid in him as much as I can. Although water is great, he needs calories. 3) Ensure Clear. Another way to get calories, liquids, and protein. 4) Boost Very High Calorie. Everything taste horrible to him right now. But, he's able to tolerate the Boost quite well. 5) Protein powder. I can mix it with almost any liquid or put it in a smoothie to boost calories and protein. 6) Greek Yogurt vanilla honey. Great calorie booster for smoothies. 7) Honey. Same as Yogurt. 8) Xylimelts. Now that the dry mouth and thick saliva has kicked in, these are very helpful. 9)Cool air humidifier. I'm not sure if it's beneficial, but we turn it on every night. 10) Tongue/throat exercises. We saw a speech therapist before treatment and she gave us several exercises to help during treatment. We weren't that committed until someone from this group reminded us how helpful they were. He has been doing the exercises 3xs per day.

I'm really not sure if any of this stuff is working, but we are going to keep at it. The second round of chemo was rough. Combined with the saliva and lack if taste, he's not very happy. But, he's doing great. You will too.

Glad to hear you are doing well. I am sure you are going to continue to do well. There may be some bumps in the road, but just positive and keep pushing. My husband is pushing through. He is officially in his sixth week of radiation today, so we are happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The second round of chemo was rough due to nausea and fatigue, but he is on the upswing now. He returned to work yesterday! It really is one day at a time!

Please continue to reach out to this group with any questions, concerns, and/or news. This group is sooooo helpful.

Tawanda, Your husband is doing excellent. Sounds like a little trouble with nausea and fatigue but he is almost finished at 6 weeks of treatment. That's pretty amazing he can go to work. I was so exhausted and feeling lousy at 6 weeks I could have never gone to work. So that is an exceptional Blessing for you folks. Maybe the treatments they have nowadays are easier to handle or maybe your husband is an exceptionally strong individual. Either way so glad for both of you.

Wishing You the Best

Take care, God Bless-Russ

Witaj Przemek,

Where are you located? Is your treatment in Poland or the US? I am also from Poland but live in the US. My mom had tonsil cancer back in 2010, fought it for 2 years, first it was surgery to remove the tonsil cancer, then left neck disssection to remove cancerous lymph node, then 6 weeks of radiation (no chemo). Couple months later the cancer spread to the right side of her neck in 1 lymph node, she had another nect dissection. Then the cancer spread to the side of her tongue which was surgically removed but she couldnt have any more radiation and chemo by itself doesn't cure the cancer. It is only used in conjunction to make the radiation work harder. Then the cancer spread to the back of her tongue which was also surgically removed. Guess what? since that last surgery she has been cancer free for 10 years! So basically she had 3 local recurrences. After the initial radiation she had lost taste for few weeks, lost few punds but never had to use a PEG tube. She doesnt speak English so I had to translate everything to her after each visit, this was breaking me but I stayed positive and literally told her every time that the prognosis is good and she will be fine. She stayed positive and she is still here. You will get through this, I promise. If you need more info feel free to ask. My mom has been cancer free to 10 years but I am still looking on this website and try to encourage others because others were encouraging me when I needed it. I wish you best of luck and let us know how your therapy is going.

Pozdrowienia

Joanna

Congratulations and well done!!

I finished my treatments on July 1 2022. Sounds like you still have some things that have not returned to normal. I'm curious, what side effects do you still experience after 10 years?