It’s been a challenging week for us. Our car needs repair, the dryer broke, and the dishwasher has to be replaced. We visited two hospitals to understand the status of my husband Tonsil Cancer and the other hospital for second opinion. We met with the team of the first hospital (Hospital 1) – oncology doctor radiologist, chemo doctor, and nutritionist. We asked why we did not have a test to see if the Tonsil cancer is HPV related or not, and we were told – it’s not necessary = this is HPV related (since my husband is non-smoker/non-drinker). Treatment will be standard radiation on Both Necks (70 Gy of radiation over seven weeks (35 times, 5 days= M to F), along with three cycles of chemotherapy - Cisplatin.). My husband’s left lymph node is where the tumor is and there is no tumor on the right-side lymph node. We do not understand why the right-side lymph node is included in radiation therapy for 15 minutes every day (M-F) 5 times a week. I heard doctor said its Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
Mask will be fitted before husband starts radiation. Also, a feeding tube will be made to make sure food is provided in case of swallowing/eating issues.
We went to the other hospital (Hospital 2) for a second opinion. The surgery oncology doctor ordered an IR Biopsy Lymph node for the needle biopsy did not show HPV. The doctor wants to know if cancer is caused by HPV. A blood test was drawn for the NavDr HPV load test. We were told that if this is determined to be HPV, treatment plan will depend on this. However, 1 doctor commented that he is suspecting an HPV since the CT scan has cheese like images. We will be having this IR Biopsy Lymph node test on Wednesday this week. We met with the oncologist radiologist, and he told us treatment will be low dose radiation.
Both radiologist doctors in these 2 hospitals advise that my husband not get TORS surgery due to bleeding complications and mentioned clinical trials to support their advice.
With all this information now, we have not decided which hospital to go= except that distance/transportation will play a part on our decision. We were also told of possible side effects of hearing, swallowing and dry mouth, etc. We need to get a blood test to be ready for chemo and dental clearance.
We have no final stage of tonsil cancer yet. We were told once this is confirmed to be HPV-related, then they can stage.
My husband is not in favor of low dose radiation for he thinks the cancer will not die and he has only one chance to do this. Thanks everyone for being patient and kind. It’s a hard road ahead of us and this support group is a gift from God.