12 day out of treatment

miccmill
miccmill Member Posts: 248
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Glenn is doing really well.

The first week was pretty rough and very typical of what others have gone through. He had lots of pain, weakness, mucus, lack of sleep....
He even had two days of not being able to swallow even water without chocking. I worried at that point but the head nurse on his team called me and kind of talked me down. Within two days he was back to swallowing water.

Now his pain is minimal so much so that he wants off his narcotic pain relievers. Mucus is minimal and dry mouth setting in.

He's dying to eat but most things don't work yet. He's drinking juices and Ensure and although hard, it's going down and staying down.

One funny thing; yesterday I came downstairs after taking a shower to find him sitting at the kitchen table with the dog eating a bowl of cereal next to him on the floor. I asked him how that worked and he said "Not well, too crunchy and too cold". I also found a can of peaches on the counter later in the day. I know he remembers me telling him about Skiffin eating peaches because they slid down easily. Maybe through the blender today.

There is a boredom factor setting in also. He would like to be out doing things he usually does but can't just yet and it's frustrating him.

Anyway, I'm really happy to see him where he's at now.

Comments

  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #2
    Happy to hear...
    Happy to hear that Glenn is on the road to recovery. It can seem like a very long road and the going can be quite slow but he will get there. He sounds like he is doing pretty good for only being 12 days post treatment.

    The boredom factor can be really tough, I remember that well ;-) It was last summer that I finished my treatments and the weather was beautiful. I wanted to work in my flower gardens everyday but did not have the strength or energy to even pull one weed. I just kept reminding myself - next year I will be out here everyday!!! And one year later I AM!!! Glenn just has to learn to be patient - HAHA - hard enough for me but even harder for a man ;-)

    Tell him not to give up on experimenting with different foods, what doesn't taste good or hurts to swallow today might be easier next week. It's all trial and error and can be frustrating but he will get there. After all, it's only been 12 days.

    LOL on the dog eating the cereal, my dogs got more table scraps while I was trying to find foods that I could eat. Now they sit there with sad eyes wondering why I won't share any more.

    My best to you and Glenn,
    Glenna
  • miccmill
    miccmill Member Posts: 248
    #3
    Glenna M said:

    Happy to hear...
    Happy to hear that Glenn is on the road to recovery. It can seem like a very long road and the going can be quite slow but he will get there. He sounds like he is doing pretty good for only being 12 days post treatment.

    The boredom factor can be really tough, I remember that well ;-) It was last summer that I finished my treatments and the weather was beautiful. I wanted to work in my flower gardens everyday but did not have the strength or energy to even pull one weed. I just kept reminding myself - next year I will be out here everyday!!! And one year later I AM!!! Glenn just has to learn to be patient - HAHA - hard enough for me but even harder for a man ;-)

    Tell him not to give up on experimenting with different foods, what doesn't taste good or hurts to swallow today might be easier next week. It's all trial and error and can be frustrating but he will get there. After all, it's only been 12 days.

    LOL on the dog eating the cereal, my dogs got more table scraps while I was trying to find foods that I could eat. Now they sit there with sad eyes wondering why I won't share any more.

    My best to you and Glenn,
    Glenna

    Gardening
    Funny you should mention the gardening.

    Last evening we stood at the edge of the back yard (which looks like a rainforest) and talked about all the things we want to do to it next summer as well as planning our Memorial Day weekend cook out.
  • Scambuster
    Scambuster Member Posts: 973
    #4
    miccmill said:

    Gardening
    Funny you should mention the gardening.

    Last evening we stood at the edge of the back yard (which looks like a rainforest) and talked about all the things we want to do to it next summer as well as planning our Memorial Day weekend cook out.

    Glenn & the Boredon phase
    That is a tough period of slow improvement and not much ability to do things. I found it helpful to have as mall routine. I was still very weak at that stage, but went out each day with my little laptop and walked to a Starbucks and i would sit and read books I had downloaded or my newspaper websites. I would slowly slurp down a thick-shake.

    Getting back out into the world in some way is very therapeutic and breaks up the long days of otherwise very slow recovery.

    Scam
  • delnative
    delnative Member Posts: 450
    #5
    Scambuster said:

    Glenn & the Boredon phase
    That is a tough period of slow improvement and not much ability to do things. I found it helpful to have as mall routine. I was still very weak at that stage, but went out each day with my little laptop and walked to a Starbucks and i would sit and read books I had downloaded or my newspaper websites. I would slowly slurp down a thick-shake.

    Getting back out into the world in some way is very therapeutic and breaks up the long days of otherwise very slow recovery.

    Scam

    Glenn
    I remember when I was at Glenn's stage, and it's not a happy memory. But day by day, things get better. The progress is incremental and slow, but at some point he'll look back at how he was only a week or two before and say, hey, I'm a lot better now.
    It's a tough row to hoe, but he's nearing the end of the row.

    --Jim in Delaware
  • miccmill
    miccmill Member Posts: 248
    #6
    delnative said:

    Glenn
    I remember when I was at Glenn's stage, and it's not a happy memory. But day by day, things get better. The progress is incremental and slow, but at some point he'll look back at how he was only a week or two before and say, hey, I'm a lot better now.
    It's a tough row to hoe, but he's nearing the end of the row.

    --Jim in Delaware

    Getting better
    Jim, he's just so thankful that the mucositis has slacked off and his voice is back.
    He's going to call his sister and brother tomorrow.
    I think it was distressing to them to not be able to talk to him for the 3 or so weeks he didn't have a voice.

    Every little improvement gives renewed strength for the next phase.

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