My husband was diagnosed with tonsil cancer on January 30th, 2008. He didn't have any symptoms. He went to the doctor on January 7th for routine blood work. The doctor asked him how long the knot on the side of his neck had been there. He hadn't even noticed it until that day. He was sent for a CAT scan that same day and then referred to an ENT. That doctor noticed an enlarged tonsil and did the biopsy.
We are now preparing for treatment to start on the February 18th. It will be radiation 5x weekly for 7 weeks, along with 3 rounds of chemotherapy - the first day of treatment, in the middle and at the end of the 7 weeks. We have been told it will be very, very difficult. The doctor said, "It's not a walk in the park." There have been so many appointments and procedures. The PET scan confirmed that this is stage 4 - T2N2M0. We never wanted to learn so much about cancer. We attended the chemotherapy class last week. Al was the class clown. His sense of humor can only help at a time like this. We have been told that swallowing may become difficult. He still needs to go to swallow therapy. Who knew? If he loses more than 2 lbs a week, they may need to insert a feeding tube.
We are hopeful. We have learned that this type of cancer rarely spreads and is among the most treatable. "Curable" is what the doctors are saying. Al is only 53 years old. Our kids (ages 5 & 6) don't know what's going on yet and we are trying to keep things as "normal" as possible around here. They will know something when he gets his port put in on February 15th. He is currently sick with a cold, so we are worried this may delay treatment. I'm tired and worried.