Brother Recently Diagnosed At 44

Hi, my name is Anne my brother was just diagnosed with tonsil cancer. He had a lump in his neck and went to dr. referred him to ENT dr who did a biopsy of his lump-results were small cell differentiated cancer cells and that the cancer started somewhere else-dr then ordered PET scan-to find source results-dr said no cancer below the neck-dr said he was going to take out tonsils cause cancer can hid there easily and not show up on tests-tonsils removed and results were cancer of the right tonsil-the same side of the neck where the lump is.-dr. now says he has to remove the lump and jugular vein, lymph nodes and other things in the neck-brother is having this surgery next thursday-dr said after surgery he will have radiation every day for 6 weeks-brother doesnt ask any questions and I have a job that will not let me take off work to go to any doc visits with him-he is not married has not kids or girlfriend for support and both our parents are deceased--we have no family-I am going to be there for him the day of surgery at the hospital with him and I dont know what I should ask the dr. My brother doesnt talk at all about this and I want to know about the prognosis-please write me-I dont know what to ask the doctors and my brother doesnt ask any questions-PLEASE RESPOND-

Hi Anne. I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. My dad was diagnosed with the exact same on the exact date. (Except my dad's primary site is on the left.)

My dad's treatment is going to be the opposite of your brothers. They will do chemo first (8weeks), then chemo and radiation together (8-10 weeks). After that, if there is residual cancer, they will do a partial neck dissection to remove anything that the chemo and radiation didn't eliminate.

This cancer, while the treatment is grueling, is DEFINITELY treatable and even curable. What stage was he diagnosed at? I assume that since he was not below the neck, he's at stage 4a.

How is the process going with your brother so far? I'm sorry he doesn't have much immediate family to lean on, but hopefully he has friends that can help out.  

If you haven't moved forward yet with the surgeries, let me know and I'll tell you what you need to ask. My advice probably won't be the best, but I did go to a bunch of the initial appointments with my parents, so maybe I can be of some help.

Good luck. I'll add your brother to my prayers!

 Stephanie

On 6/19/2007 Anne32 wrote:

Hi, my name is Anne my brother was just diagnosed with tonsil cancer. He had a lump in his neck and went to dr. referred him to ENT dr who did a biopsy of his lump-results were small cell differentiated cancer cells and that the cancer started somewhere else-dr then ordered PET scan-to find source results-dr said no cancer below the neck-dr said he was going to take out tonsils cause cancer can hid there easily and not show up on tests-tonsils removed and results were cancer of the right tonsil-the same side of the neck where the lump is.-dr. now says he has to remove the lump and jugular vein, lymph nodes and other things in the neck-brother is having this surgery next thursday-dr said after surgery he will have radiation every day for 6 weeks-brother doesnt ask any questions and I have a job that will not let me take off work to go to any doc visits with him-he is not married has not kids or girlfriend for support and both our parents are deceased--we have no family-I am going to be there for him the day of surgery at the hospital with him and I dont know what I should ask the dr. My brother doesnt talk at all about this and I want to know about the prognosis-please write me-I dont know what to ask the doctors and my brother doesnt ask any questions-PLEASE RESPOND-

 

H

Ask the doctor to test the tumor to see if it's HPV pos.  If he's 44, then it just might be.  My husband was 47 when we found out he was stage 3 scc of the right tonsil (a non-smoker, hardly ever drank).  Find out what stage the tumor is in.  Find out if they will be giving him a PEG tube.  It's a life saver.  Find out how many head and neck cancers they (the hospital) deal with per year.  I don't know that much about the surgery, my husband had just radiation and chemo, but if you go back to the main cancer message board and click on "head and neck cancers", there is a lot of great info from other tonsil cancer survivors on those threads.  Read all the old messages.  Tons of info.  We were lucky to find a hospital that had an IGRT/IMRT radiation machine. 

 He will need as much help from you as you can give him. I know you said he doesn't have any family other than you to help out, but if you could have his friends, co-workers, or neighbors to help out, even just a little bit, it would take some of the stress off of you.  You'll need to make sure he gets to his radiation appt.s on time and takes his medications....and it's very important you talk to someone about his feedings.  What he eats and how much he can take in will have a lot to do with how well his treatments will go. 

We wish him the best, and let him know this is a very treatable and cureable kind of cancer.

-Amy