Hi all,
Just a note to let you all know that i am doing ok, last radiotherapy was in May last year my neck is still a little sore on the inside and my rad doc said it would take 12 months to get better, because i had 72 lymph nodes taken out of my left neck it swells up with fluid and i have to keep massaging the fluid away to other glands.
It has been a real hard journey and when i look back i think with anger why me, why have i got a u shaped scar from my ear down to my collar bone and up the middle of my throat to the mid bottom of my chin, but i have seen a lot of people on my travels that had tonsil cancer in 2001 that are a lot worse off cosmetically than i, how the treatment has progressed through time and been made so good now, i go for my 6 week checks and touch wood all is ok,i have felt so many emotions since the diagnosis and so many things have changed in my life i no longer take everyday for granted as life at the start of everyday is a gift, treat other people better than you would treat yourself etc i could go on but dont want to bore you all, with reference to eating my saliva is half what it was and each month is improving by chewing sugar free gum to stimulate the glands remaining,on the whole i am 90% back to how i was before all this, the only thing i will say has changed is the fact like all of you each morning i wake with the thought what if it comes back but i suppose after a while this subsides as well, i think that i am a little depressed at the moment i just feel so short fused some not all of the time, i will sign off now as i feel i am rambling now. Hope you are all ok and any qs you have please fire them my way....ps back at work now since last July doing the plumbing just been accepted as an approved plumber by seven trent water an achievement in my books i think, sorry here i go again....mail me all you lovely people get me out of this black cloudiness.......love to you all xxx

Hi Carl, I recognise all the things you have said in your post. Why the scarred face and mood swings etc etc, but you're well on the way now.
I found the chewing gum really helped with the saliva gland stimulation too and I still chomp loads of it now. Dont worry to much about the depression at the moment, it's all part of the process but it does pass and you really get on with life as time goes on. We all live with the 'will it return or not' shite, but it does end up further and further in the back of the mind. I rarely think about it in a negative way now and I work in the same hospital that I was diagnosed and treated in.
Hang in there mate, and well done on the plumbing. That's about the longest post I've ever done so I've got to go and lie down now .

hi carl
nice to hear from you sorry you are feeling down about everything.even though i did not need surgery i too often feel why me?i want my life to be back to how it was but hey we are still here to tell the tale and that's what counts isn't it mate.anyway it's lovely to hear from you.take care love shirl xxx

Hi Carl

Good to hear you are doing well physically but, as you say, psychologically it can take a lot longer, so sorry you are also feeling a bit down. It is a good place to come to, this message board, to vent your feelings and talk to people who will really understand. We can none of us know exactly how another person is feeling but we have enough experiences in common to be able to offer words of comfort or hope (or to ask for these from others when we feel the need). As Hagg says, things do gradually get easier, and the worry does become less prominent, so just hang in there. You are doing so well.

Best wishes

Gwyn

Thankyou all for your kind words..

Hello Carl, read your posting with interest. I don't think this cold weather helps with the neck, mine is stiff as you like, and admittedly I only had 34 glands removed but the swelling gets you down.

I was also interested to learn about your saliva returning, really has given me a confidence boost today.

So I will sign off and wish you a continued good recovery. At least I off to Thailand next week. Get some swimming done, and cheap massages, keep you posted.

Best wishes Nigel