As time goes by, one year has passed since i ended the treatment and i was recently a check at my oncologist. It was the usual “pleasant” way with a thumie down the throat near the gag reflex and the camera through the nose and even further. This time the oncologist had a suit similar to a hazmat suit on and usually the parking lot at the hospital is impossible, but it was largely empty, all because of corona.
But everything looks fine, a little fungus in the throat due to the limited salvia production but everything else looked fine and most important, nothing indicating recurrence. I asked and again the oncologist confirmed that my risk for recurrence is extremely small and if it should occur again HPV tonsil cancer very seldomly occurs distant places from the first point of contact, contrary to other cancer types which has higher risks of creating distant metastasis.
My fear of recurrence is not totally gone away but very reduced compared to xmas 2019. It is probably a combination of going to the doctor with the symptoms that worried me, time that has passed and mental tools to handle it.
I have some small late effects which is the following:
- Dry mouth in the morning
- Alkohol og redwine, still not pleasant for my throat.
- A little nerve pain sometimes in the left side, probably a drop that hit some nerves or effects of the cisplatin.
- A little more tired in the evening, hard to differ whether it is the treatment or just a man in his mid 40s 😉
My humble experience is still that it is very important to keep things going, especially in these corona times, my mind starts working against me with reccurence scenarios.
Next check is again in 6 months, when 2 year has passed it is only once per year.