I was diagonosed 8/7/02 with stage 4 tonsil cancer. Had 9 hour surgery to remove the tonsil and a radical heck disection. 4 of 75 lymph nodes removed were positive.

6 weeks after the surgery, I had 33 radiation concurrently with 7 weekly chemo. The recovery was very tough for me. There was episode of infection that I had to stop the radiation, and the recovery is slow, I end up had hyperbaric oxygen treatment too.

It took me a good 12 months to start feeling better, the bottom line is that after the agrressive treatment, I am still around today.

There will be 3 to 4 weeks during the radiation that you cannot eat because the throat hurts a lot. I had to take some medicine to numb my throat before swallowing.