Originally Posted by
KDaddy23
Yeah, apparently, mine is HPV-related and involved my right tonsil as well. When asked about the stage of things, no one had anything to say about it which, I dunno, on the one hand was okay because knowing there was a stage probably would have triggered a freak-out on my part but, on the other, maybe they didn't know the answer to the question. I'd met with my oncology team and I'd asked them the same question I'd asked the ENT who made the diagnosis: Is removing my tonsils going to be part of the treatment? They were all looking at each other and the surgeon starts talking about that not being an option because they'd have to split my mandible which could cause problems down the road and I was thinking, "WTF? Since when did a tonsillectomy get that fucking complicated?"
They decided not to do chemo and radiation at the same time and, again, it's the radiation part that I'm dreading more than anything else; I just have the "advantage" of having the feeding tube and tracheotomy already in place. Yes, this is not only survivable but mine has been deemed to be curable versus palliative - and at my visit with my oncologist, she was very happy that after palpitating the shit out of my neck and throat, she couldn't feel anything, and is very optimistic for a positive outcome.