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Mucositis
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Nov 27, 2006 - 1:45 pm
My husband has just finished 5 weeks of chemo/radiation therapy for stage 4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tonsil that spread to his lymph node. He also had induction therapy for two weeks of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU. During his 5 weeks of chemo/radiation therapy, he received 600 ml of 5FU daily for 5 days in a row each week, 115 ml of Taxotere once a week each week and two radiation sessions per day. The doctors said that he has had unusually bad reactions to the chemo/radiation, starting with ringing in the ear from the Cisplatin, dehydration, has a feeding tube because his throat is closing up and he can't eat, has a stent down his nose to keep his throat open a little bit and also has horrible mucositis (really thick phlem) that has him waking up choaking hourly all night long. On top of all of that, he also has 1st and 2nd degree burns on his neck from the radiation. According to his doctors, he should be feeling better "soon", but from what I have been reading on this website, I am getting very discouraged for him. There are so many people saying that the mucositis does not go away and/or also have a feeding tube for years. I guess I am looking for a little encouragement here. If anyone has a positive outcome from head/neck cancer treatment (side effects gone or really minimized), it would be great to hear about. I have read about the suggestions that people have for helping the mucositis and I will have him try the suggestins one at a time to see if there is something that will give him any relief. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU! MrsY |
Joined: Sep 2006
Best wishes to your husband mrsy. Briefly, I am a neck/tongue cancer survivor. I had 15 hour surgery to remove about half of tongue (and replace with tissue and nerves from arm) along with lymph nodes from right side of neck, and seven weeks of daily rads and bi-weekly chemo.
First of all, re the burns, my wife, a wound care nurse, used biofene on me. It is rather new to this country, and it may be that its use would be after the fact for you, but I had it applied before and after treatment and for sometime afterward as well. I had no burns, even though I know of another patient of the same radiation doc who developed severe burns: it worked for me. I know some medical folks who use it for treatment of their own sunburn. You might consider this, even now, as a way to help with the burns.
Re the heavy phlegm, it DOES subside, at least it has for me, but it doesn't simply go away as soon as you stop the rads. It does take some time. Similar to your husband, I was up almost like clockwork every two hours, all night long, to expel the stuff, feeling I couldn't breathe if I didn't. But now, having ended the rads/chemo in January (or February...who's counting?), I sleep through the night and while I carry water with me everywhere and probably always will, it is not so often that I have a need to expel phlegm (still do, but at nowhere near the frequency or q