Welcome to OCF, Philip! You're in the right place for info and support. We will help you get thru this!!! Dont fret about any delay, you actually did quite good with your timeline of discovery and only a few weeks until treatment starts. As far as being sick, I thought the same thing... that I had a sinus infection but nope I had cancer as my family doc suggested. Im so glad I listened to him and went to the specialists he told me to or I wouldnt be here today. Its 10 years since I was first diagnosed and if I can do it then you can too

My advice for now is to eat all your favorite foods, desserts too. Treatments are going to change your sense of taste and ability to eat. For most of us its a temporary change but it can upset your normal eating for at least several weeks to a couple months. You do not want to go into this with cravings for something you cant fully enjoy when eating and you're half way thru treatments. Ill nag you soon enough about your daily intake of calories and water. Just eat everything now and if you are slim push to gain some weight before you start treatments.

You should have a thorough check up with flouride trays made and a full blood workup (including thyroid and testosterone) prior to any treatments. You need to have a baseline of what those normal numbers should be as you wont get an accurate reading after rads/chemo has started.

Anyone who offers you their assistance, tell them when the time comes you will let them know what they can do to help. People really do want to help but most of the time they have no idea what they can do. Theres all kinds of little things that can add up to making this much easier on you. Walking the dog, picking up groceries or prescriptions, driving you to treatment or an doctors appointment, doing a load of laundry, mopping your kitchen floor or if you have children taking the kids out for a Saturday of fun so you can get rest are all little things that are a huge help when you arent feeling well. Write down everyone who offers their help and then you or your caregiver will know who to call on when you need a hand.

The American Cancer Society has a patient/driver matchup program that might be useful to help you get to your treatments, or they will give you a $300 voucher for prescription copays or transportation costs. They are available 24/7/365 so call right away and get the ball rolling as the paperwork is likely to take a week or 2.

Im sure theres a million other things to tell you but off the top of my head I probably already said too much info. I know you are scared and boy is that one difficult sentence to write, even to a bunch of strangers its hard to admit. Ive been where you are and so have our members, we understand how scary the unknown is and the wide range of emotions that come with facing a serious potentially deadly disease. We got your back and will be here so if you need to vent or lean on someone its ok, we understand.

Best wishes with everything!!!