Hi All,

Stumbled upon this fantastic forum and wanted to introduce myself. I have learned so much about this disease in such a short time from the people posting here.

My story:

Found a lump on the right side of my throat at the end of June this year. Already had a yearly physical scheduled with my primary care doctor as Mass General 7/02 so went about my business. Primary care took one look and immediately referred me to the head of the thyroid and neck lymph node surgery department. Needle biopsy on 7/22 showed inconclusive results except for the presence of skin sells in the pathology that couldn't be identified. His take was that it was most likely a cyst but wanted a second opinion.

Doctor at MGH referred me to the director of head and neck surgery (lymph and thyroid cancer specialty) at Mass Eye & Ear for a second opinion. Diagnosed me with (forgive me if I screw up the abbreviations) SCC of the right tonsil on 8/8. Surgery was recommended as the next action then after treatment.

Met with multi-disciplinary team on 8/16. Was told it is most likely HPV related. My MO said he does not generally like chemo for stage 3 and would revisit it as a possibility for stage 4.

Had surgery on 8/19. Original plan was tonsil and tumor removal. Doctor found the tumor was attached so just did a biopsy which confirmed HPV+. Also has a neck resection and removal of 34 lymph nodes. Two showed the cancer the rest were clean and he is confident that he got it all.

Have my radiation consult/setup this Monday. Radiation oncologist originally stated 32 treatments. They will complete them and then evaluate if chemo is needed afterward depending on results.

I am 47 years old, never a smoker, and a moderate drinker. I'm in above average physical condition and lead a fairly healthy lifestyle so I'm hoping this helps down the road. I have a million questions but will troll the rest of the forum for most of the answers as many have been answered I'm sure. A few I haven't seen are:

1) What are the one or two things people have wished they knew to do to prepare for treatment that they know now?

2) How much of an advantage is just having radiation and not radiation and chemo concurrently to me as far as side effects?

Thank you all for your excellent posts and I look forward to being a member of the community and hopefully contributing in some way.

-Rich

47, Non-smoker, moderate drinker
7/13 Found a lump on my neck
8/08/13 Dx HPV 16+ SCC right tonsil
8/19/13 Biopsy and neck dissection, 38 lymph nodes removed 2+ for cancer
9/23/13 Start 33 radiation treatments & 4 x Carboplatin/Taxol, 3 x Taxol only
11/07/13 Last radiation treatment
01/03/14 Post treatment CT scan looks good