Hello everyone I,m new here, only just found this site.

I was diagnosed with SCC of left tonsil in August 2005 a comnplete shock as I have never been a smoker or a heavy drinker.

In September I had major surgery to remove tumour and a neck dissection complete with a 'flap'.

The histology showed that they had got a good margin around the tumour except where it went very deep and my lymph nodes were clear.

I was unfortunate enough to get MRSA in my arm where they took the donor skin, vein and artery for the flap from but with strong anti biotics it healed.

I then had 6 weeks of radiotherapy which came to an end on 30th December 2005 so I went into 2006 knowing that all treatment had finished but feeling the worst!!

Anyway it's now 1 year on from initial diagnosis and I am doing really well, the main after effects are - dry mouth, slight speech impediment, limited mouth opening and difficulty eating some foods. Otherwise life is good and I feel I have had a lucky escape things could have been much worse.

The radiotherapy wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe it just made me feel very tired and lethargic. I had a PEG tube so I was able to get all the nutrition I needed.

I managed to start eating again by end Jan and had PEG out mid Feb I now have 2 belly buttons!!

Only time will tell if this is the end of my story.

Best regards


Rosie