Hello all. I stumbled across this site yesterday and wanted to say how fantastic I think it is and how great you all are in the way that you support each other.

My wife was treated for cancer of the tongue almost 30 years ago. She elected to have radium needles inserted into the tumour (coupled with radiotherapy and removal of lypmh nodes from under her arms where it had already spread) rather than have the tumour removed. She was just 23 at the time and it was obvious a very scary time as we had only been married a few months and the prognosis wasn't good! Anyway cutting a very long story short we had 20 good years after the treatment in which time we raised 2 fantastic kids. unfortunately the radiotheraphy caused a lot of damage to the tissue and over time it degenerated and the cancer returned about 8 years ago in her gums and after a pretty horrendous time she died 2 years later.

A website like this and the supportnetwork it gives would have been a great help at the time but obviously nothing like it existed so we were just left to get on with it.

Whatever you circumstances, don't give up, stay as positive as you can and live for today. We had a fantastic life together even in the really tough times and hopefully you can too.

All the best Andy

Hello and welcome they are a lovely crowd here. Great support and great advice

Hello Andy
What a lovely post. Welcome, welcome.
You are so right about this being a fabulously supportive forum, I don't know what we would do without the friends we have found here. Basically it means we are never alone, there is someone to 'talk' to at any time. It's great.
I imagine your wife's treatment was very innovative for 30 years ago and it's terrific that you were able to get on with your lives together for so long.
It's nice to meet you and I hope you drop in to share the wisdom I'm sure you've accumulated over the years ~ not to mention the positivity.
Cheers from Down Under
Deborah (I know I look like Trevor but I'm using his computer!)

Hi Andy,

How very thoughtful you are. Thanks for taking the time to give some hope to those of us and our carers who are newcomers to this or who may suffer in various stages from barely to greatly. We have a few young un's on this message board but very few (I can think of only one) as young as 23. It's difficult to imagine being a newlywed faced with such devastation; yet you both survived and managed to produce healthy children within a loving family before the devil came back. There is hope in that she had twenty good years after what might be considered rather primitive treatment. It's still primitive.

You must have cared for her quite well - you're even here caring about us and wanting to share your story. What a wonderful woman she must have been.

Welcome. Please stick around.

I wish you the best.

Mimi

Hi Andy,

Thanks for sharing your story. As Mimi said, it must have been an awful thing for you and your wife to have gone through at such a young age, but I am encouraged to hear that you both got on and had such a fruitful twenty years.

Thanks for your note of positivity it really lifted me.

Best wishes,

Cathy

Hi Andy, thank you for your post. Your wifes story makes me feel positve. I was diagnosed in November and will be having follow up ct and pet scan tomorrow. I am 31 and to know someone had a 20 span after surgeries and radiotherapy makes me happy.

Hello again and thanks for your warm welcomes. Jackie was indeed a truly amazing lady. She remained positive right until the very end (and as you will all know too well, that isn't easy at times)and it was a real privilege to have been part of her life.

I feel a bit awkward being here and it has stirred up lots of unpleasant memories but I do plan to stick around and will check in every now and again to see how you are all getting on.

Keep smiling and don't forget to give lots of hugs to those around you, they need them too. A