Well, this sucks (literally)...

JC F
JC F Member Posts: 74
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

...12 rads in and I can barely chew any solids without exquisite pain from under the sides of my tongue. Throw in the taste buds just about shot and eating has already become a chore. Have the magic mouthwash, the xylitol pills, the pain pills but not helping much on the eating front. Swallowing doesn't hurt (yet) but chewing has become very tedious. Will of course go to "soft" foods, liquids and things that can be sucked down and the like and try to hold off "PEGGY" a little while longer but I was really hoping this unpleasantness would not effect me until futher into the treatments...and I have a fairly high threshold of pain...how disappointing...

Comments

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #2
    Chopper

    Get a food chopper and let it do the work for your mouth, that will help to relive the jaw of the pressure and still let you eat through the mouth, it is worth a try

     

    Tim Hondo

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #3
    you are in it

    JC F,

    You are fairly normal, week 3 was the start for me.  I had great luck with the magic mouth wash for throat, tongue and mouth discomfort.   I went through a six pac and swallowed every drop.

    If it is time to switch to soft food or liquid, don’t hesitate, do it.  You may have much bigger battles ahead then to worry about chewing.

    Keep drinking water and swallowing!

    Learn to work with   your body.  I had whole procedures for bedtime and for rad time.

    I did not start the Xylitol until well after treatments, so, no comment.

    Matt

  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #4
    It truly sucks

    Hang in there as best you can.  If you suspect you are going to need our old pal PEG, don't wait too long.  If your throat gets too burned they won't be able to easily intubate you to get the tube down your throat.  One of the guys in my local support group waited too long, and it couldn't be done.

    Deb

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #5
    It wasn't a sore throat

    that put my PEG to work.....it was my mouth.  Couldn't get food to the throat to swallow because it had to go through my mouth first.  I let the tube do the heavy lifting, and used my mouth only for the swallow muscles (even plain water stung like crazy....but L-glutamine powder mixed with plain water did not). 

    Miss PEG really does grow on you once you get to know her better.....and since she's already in residence, might as well put her to work :).

    p

  • Guzzle
    Guzzle Member Posts: 710
    #6
    phrannie51 said:

    It wasn't a sore throat

    that put my PEG to work.....it was my mouth.  Couldn't get food to the throat to swallow because it had to go through my mouth first.  I let the tube do the heavy lifting, and used my mouth only for the swallow muscles (even plain water stung like crazy....but L-glutamine powder mixed with plain water did not). 

    Miss PEG really does grow on you once you get to know her better.....and since she's already in residence, might as well put her to work :).

    p

    sorry

    You are going through this mate.

  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #7
    Yep, that's where the rough

    Yep, that's where the rough part begins. I found it helpful at that point to treat nutrition and hydration like medicine. Set some times on your phone or alarm clock. When the time comes, consume a specific amount of calories and water. If it needs to be Ensure, then that's fine--it's about the calories. When you find you can't even get enough liquids down your throat to hit your minumum calorie requirement, then start using the PEG.

    This changes the decision to one based on hard data and makes it easier to make the transition, IMO. You especially don't want to get dehydrated--that's what lands a lot of us in the hospital during treatments.

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    #8
    JC F, sorry you are having

    JC F, sorry you are having trouble already but thank goodness you have Peggy already.  She will do what needs to be done.  Not the most fun way, but very practical.  be sure to keep swallowing tho, that's very important so you don't lose that ability.  also, be sure to take in enough liquid to stay hydrated, you don't want that to become a problem.  i'm sorry you're disappointed but look at it like this, you have 12 treatments under your belt already!  Won't be long an you'll be in the single digits.  keep looking forward and take each day as it comes.  stay positive and keep focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.

    God bless you,

    dj

  • Crazymom
    Crazymom Member Posts: 339 Member
    #9
    hang in there

    it is going to get worse before it gets better....but remember....it will get better...you can do this.  I eventually had to get morphine, but that was like the last two weeks.

     

    send a little prayer your way    Ann

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