Hi everyone. I'm Suzee. My father,77, was diagnosed with tonsil cancer just before Christmas. He had just gone to Las Vegas for the winter when he had a huge lump coming out the side of his neck. The Dr he saw in LV gave him a scrip for antibiotics and said he could be scheduled for a CT scan right after the holidays. My sister took him to the ER the next day, where a CT showed the tumor.

We have moved him and his wife to Houston and MDAnderson for the duration of his treatment. My brother and SIL live in Houston and my SIL is an ER doc so we were able to fast track him through the referral process.

The inter-disciplinary team decided on 7 weeks of Erbitux and 30 radiation treatments. Originally it was to be on the right tonsil but last week they decided to radiate on both sides, which made my father sad.

He had his first Erbitux infusion on Monday. He ran a fever for 12 hours and had a severe headache for 24. I think he has progressed to just dizziness.

My father and his wife are Korean and she speaks little english. I will be down in Houston every weekend throughout treatment, and the other 4 are taking turns being in Houston during the weeks.

We are all scared. I have been lurking on this board for several weeks and it really has helped me process what treatment will be like and how to be best prepared. You could never realize the great comfort you've brought to us kids already. Thank you!

Suz,

Welcome to the group!

It sounds as though your Dad is in good hands and is very lucky to have such a proactive group of family members.

Yes, lurking and reading the boards is a great way to learn what you are dealing with. It gives you ammunition to ask the questions that are so pertinent to your father's case.

This is a place of comfort for sure!

Deb

Was he a tobacco user?

Have they mentioned HPV?

MD Anderson is a top notch facility.

Thank you Deb!

David, My father was not a tobacco user. He was a drinker, and he has tested HPV+. We have all been asked by MDA to give blood for research testing and all but one of us did.

Hi Suzee and welcome to OCF. I'm happy that you joined our group here. You will find the surrport you need and answers to all of your questions.

I wish your father, you and your family strength during this hard time.

You will hear us say "we all can respond to the same or similar treatment differently" and that's because it's true. Some breeze through, some have a horrible time from day one but most of us start to feel the effects of concurrent chemo/rad around the 4th week and we get progressively worst until the 3rd week POST Tx with the few weeks post Tx our worse. Make sure he gets plenty of water daily (minimum 48ozs), consumes 2500+ calories each and every day and stays on top of his pain. Keep after his cancer team and make them aware of everything. Also ask us any question or vent 24/7. That's what we are really good at because between the patients and the caregivers we have assembled on this site at any one point, we have probably been there done it.

As you have probably been told an HPV+ Dx is a good thing.

Sorry to hear but the support you all are giving him will definately help him through this!