Hello everyone
It looks like my last topic "It's Beginning" was closed it ran away I guess.
Its two months since I've been out of treatment now and things are going well MRI is on April 11 to see if they can detect anything. Eating almost anything now but gets sore if I eat anything to dry or large. Just to let everyone know who has SCC of the left tonsil This was the toughest ride of my life at times I didn't thing I could take it anymore but with all the support I had from all of you here and my family I made it over the hump. I know it's not over yet but I feel so much better now that I can drink and eat again my life has come back a lot. I still may have surgery but from what I have read on the forums it

Bravo Raymond! Thanks for giving me some hope. I have stage III, SCC, in the right tonsil and finished treatment 20 days ago and I'm still having a hard time. Somedays it seems like I'm going backwards. The radiation burns seem to be getting worse. It takes a lot of patience (which I have never been good at).

Bravo Raymond,

It's great that you are keeping us up on the good news. And even better that you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train. You Go Raymond!!!

The eating will continue to get better and what doesn't you'll learn to work around (cut smaller, add gravy, drink water) It just becomes the things we do.

Gary, You hang in there - your progress is good. As you've read on the boards the radiation does keep working after the treatment ends. But you'll get there.

Someone the other day said and it made a lot of sense to me. In our recovery don't compare today to yesterday, compare today to a week or so ago or more. Sometimes it's so gradual we don't realize it.

Glad to hear you guys are both doing well. Keep up the good work.

Take care,
Dinah

Hang in there, Raymond-my pom poms are raised for you!

Ms. Dinah-what is the update from you? Sending you pom-poms too!

Kim

Raymond and Gary,
Hang in there guys. It only gets better with time. Sometimes now I forget that I have been a victim of cancer and I think of myself as having gotten over it, like a bad flu or something. This may be a little unrealistic, but for now I feel so much better and like I am on my way back to a normal life...forever changed, but still a normal life.
Keep the faith,

Danny G.

Raymond, that is great news! From here on out, things will just get better.

And Danny, that is exactly how I feel -- I forget what a serious thing I battled, and feel more like it was just a case of flu. Isn't that wonderful? I sincerely hope that everyone here can someday get to that point.

Joanna

(Which is not to say that I will ever miss a checkup!)

Hi Danny,
Thanks for the kind words. I think it God's little joke to force me to learn patience, which has always been my worst character defect.
They have your swallowing problems resolved?

Gary,
My swallowing continues to improve. I did have my esophagus dilated three times and it seems to be remaining sufficiently open. I am now able to eat a lot of soft foods and I can easily drink smoothies and shakes...which I could not do a month ago. I tried a hamburger pattie today and it was a complete failure. I still have a long way to go and I haven't shed the PEG tube yet, but I only use it about once a day. I drink a lot of Boost Plus and eat yogurt, but I am able to eat many soups, eggs, vegetables and even fish.
My problem is that I cannot seem to eat much volume, certainly not enough to gain weight back. You would think that these thick milk shakes that I buy would put some weight on me!
Gary, you have no choice but to be patient...and you WILL feel better. I started taking a walk every day after I finished radiation and felt bad. Have you felt up to that?

Take care,
Danny

Hello again
Just to update everyone here I was at my Rad Onc. For the results of my MRI and was told all clear! That he could not see anything on it and was told in another month he would do a ct scan and if everything is clear they would probably not do the rad neck dissection has anyone had stage 4b tonsil cancer without a rad. neck dissection? Because he also said their is a possibility I still might have a rad. neck dissection even if the don

Hi Raymond,
First of all congratulations! I think I am a right person to answer your question because my tonsil cancer was also stage 4B.I didn't have any neck dissection. I remember having the MRI, CT scan and ultrasound two months after completing radiation and chemo treatment to confirm the status of my cancer. In between the time when I had appointment with my oncologist, he also said there was the possibility of operation. I could still feel the lump on my left neck then and wasn't sure if it was cancerous or not. My oncologist could not give a straight yes or no. So the waiting time was a rather hard one until the results of the tests were known. So there is nothing you can do now and even if surgery is necessary,it should be a fairly easy one with a much smaller tumor.

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.