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Types of radiation therapy and chemo therapy combinations
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Nov 27, 2023 | Replies (23)Comment receiving replies
I had squamous cell tonsil (HPV) removed cancer and I did ask about proton therapy. My cancer surgeon said it would be worth using if my insurance paid for it, but she honestly didn’t think it made a big difference in life quality. I had radiation and chemo, no surgery because it was in a place where I was told would require breaking my jaw. I had 6 chemo treatments and 32 radiation treatments. I too had a very painful earache, but no hearing loss. I still take meds for the earache. Mine however is being caused from a combination of nerves attached to my neck and throat. I have a throat ulcer that affects my ear every time I eat something that irritates it. Addressing the tonsil removal-why????? I never had anyone say my non-cancerous tonsil should be removed. I’d definitely recommend getting a second opinion on that.
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Thank you for your response! The doctors need to remove the other tonsil to look for the cancer in the tissue which may be small and only visible to the pathologist. But it will help them target the radiation if they do find it. It’s the most likely place for the cancer to be and if found will limit the field of the radiation. If not found there will need to be a wider field of radiation so in this case we are hoping they find it . I understand their thinking but admit it does seem a little odd to remove something hoping to find the cancer. However my reading is that tonsils are lymph nodes so it is similar to removing the neck lymph nodes in an effort to stage the cancer and plan the treatment.