My 67 year old husband was diagnosed with stage 2 tonsil cancer in August, 2022. It was an HPV 16 based cancer so it was very treatable. He had the same treatment plan you mentioned—35 radiation sessions and chemo once a week for seven weeks.

What we learned: do what the doctors tell you to do. For example, get a port put in his chest to make chemo, blood tests and hydration easier. My husband had supplemental hydration sessions three times a week through his port. It hurt a lot to swallow and became impossible after four weeks of treatment. When he lost 15 pounds, they recommended a feeding tube. It sounds scary but it was the best thing he did because he was able to receive badly needed nutrition to help him heal. You may have to try a couple different formulas to find what works best for him. As soon as we got him properly hydrated and fed, he looked so much better and he recovered well. He lost thirty pounds total but has gained some of it back. He had the stomach tube for six weeks. He developed mucositis by the end of treatment. Get him a suction machine to help with this. Our ordeal was about six months from diagnosis to receiving a “no cancer found result” on his PET scan. Permanent side effects - He lost part of his ability to taste food and his salivary glands did not come back. And he cannot grow a full face beard - just a Van Dyke mustache and small chin beard.
He feels this is a small price to pay for being cancer free.

Every two months his ENT scopes his throat for any thing suspicious and his cancer center also follows him closely with scans, MRIs and blood tests.

In 2023, we did three major trips to Panama, Europe, and Australia. So there is life after cancer.

Hang in there, your husband will recover. Take care of yourself.