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Just diagnosed with a throat cancer
Went in for an Endoscopy and it came back with a tumor and they took a biospy and it came back cancer. I quit smoking but now I have to deal with the consequences. Very scared. I am 53 yrs old and have a teenage daughter. Any advice? I am getting all my testing done. They are sending to a thoracic surgeon and Oncologist. This sucks!
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Hey Trish,
I’m so sorry about your cancer diagnosis.
I wasn’t much older than you when I was diagnosed with Stage IV base of tongue, throat and lymph nodes.
I’m now 62 years old soon to be 63.
I had too much cancer for surgery so they had to hit me as hard as possible with chemo and radiation.
Be sure to trust your care team, go in believing that they will shrink and kill that cancer, providing chemotherapy and radiation are the methods used.
I don’t want to go into detail until you know if you’re going to receive chemotherapy and radiation or surgery etc.
Keep me updated and you can pm me if you’d rather.
If you’re going to get chemotherapy and radiation I will give you plenty of information.
Until then, fight the good fight and get the mindset of you will survive!
MOJO
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14 ReactionsHello Mojo how did you manage the side effects and what......how long did you have them. How did you treat them?
I am asking because I too had chemo and radiation like you.
Please any advise would be helpful to me.
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3 ReactionsThank you so much. I still a little more testing to find out exactly what kind and stage. I appreciate the support!
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2 ReactionsHey Lilly,
I have many post treatment troubles.
-Fatigue
-Brain Fog; I lose track of conversation at times as my mind drifts off.
-Reaction time is delayed
-Joint pain
-Stiff neck
-24/7 migraine with 7-10 pain level
-Dizziness with loss of balance at times
—Stiff jaw; hard to open mouth wide to eat
-Difficult to swallow food, I need lots of fluids to get food down
-Dry mouth
-A few teeth chipped and one cracked recently
-Urgency and frequency; when I gotta go I gotta go!
I’m sure there’s more but that’s the gist of it
Hope that helps
MOJO
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2 ReactionsI am a 45 year old woman and this basically explains my diagnosis to a "T" and I am going to be starting radiation 5 days a week and chemo 1 day a week for 7weeks. Not sure what to expect, the doctors just say it is going to be really hard. Any info would be greatly appreciated
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2 ReactionsI have hiatus hernia and underactive thyroid.
For 15months I've had a hoarse voice. Dr referred me to ENT.
ENT Dr has requested a scan and endoscopy. He said I have noddles at the back of my throat. Always clearing my throat and cough small amounts of phlegm whilst clearing my throat. Both my tests will be in the next 1/2weeks. Think it's pretty quick!! TBH. T more I think about it,the more worried I'm getting 😪
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1 ReactionHello @bebarb10. Please check out Red-Light Therapy. There are statistics showing it can greatly help with radiation damage. I waved an inexpensive wand around my throat area twice per day...before and after the sessions. It still took about one year for my ability to eat, drink and even speak returned. Gratefully, these abilities returned. God Be with You.
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1 ReactionStay positive Judith, no sense stressing yourself without your test results.
Just be strong and know you can handle any situation that arises!
Keep us updated please!
Jody
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1 Reactionhi, Judith80. The nodules are probably benign, and caused by the reflux. Erosion caused by the reflux can cause cancer which radiofrequency can usually eliminate. The source of trouble is the hiatal hernia. There is interesting speculation that low thyroid can cause disturbance in the esophageal sphincters and contribute to development of a hiatal hernia.
It does sound like you are onto this early in the process. and will find resolution.
Worry is only good when it makes you investigate. You might collect records today. Get notes on the haitus--how large it is. Get the physicians notes on the throat exam, exactly where are those nodules, on the vocal folds? How underactive is that thyroid are you clinically insignificant. Have you had a serum TPO to see if the thyroid issue is Hashimoto's.
Keep us posted.
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1 ReactionI have posted this a number of times, but folks seem to feel it is of value. So here it is again.
I had SCC on the base of my tongue and a couple of lymph nodes in the fall of 2020. I had chemo and proton radiation, since have had multiple cleans scans.
I wrote a blog during my experience (non-revenue generating) if you would like to review it, the link/URL is below. My wife, Suzy, wrote a wonderfully insightful post called lists and non-advice advice.
https://stevefleurysblog.com/2021/01/05/lists-and-non-advice-advice/
You can read the entire blog at:
https://stevefleurysblog.com/2020/10/29/part-1-the-beginning/
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