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Dawn - Not cancer related, dogs instead
Well my wife decided to come down to our place in Mexico and this time she brought her two Yorkies (Miguel and Annabella - Miguel is in my avatar). Well Annabella decided to give birth to her first litter of puppies, three boys. Now we have to get them back to the US but the problem is you can only carry two small dogs…
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Long term peg
I am wondering at what point does a peg tube need to be replaced? Andy has had his 10 months and I just recently started wondering if there is an "expiration date" so to speak. Don't want any weird germs to invade!
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radiation burns to neck
Can anyone advise the best way to care for the radiation burned skin on the neck? Using Biafine. Also, Dr advised DOMboro soaks and Vitamin E. Is it best to remove dead skin? The pain is about "8" about 7 days out from the last treatment. Is it best to let it scab?
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FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW AND ABOUT TO START RADIATION. Some threads to read that can be helpful.
Seems like we never have any shortage of new people joining. For those just starting radiation and are nervous, there is lots of good info on these threads. TIPS FOR HANDLING THE MASK: ----------------------------------------------- SURVIVING THE MASK RADIATION MASK ADVICE FIRST DAY OF RADIATION TIPS You can find more…
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What items make you feel better?
Hi, I'm a cancer survivor who is working to help other patients/survivors. Thinking about your treatments and side effects, physically, mentally, etc. What type of items could someone give you to help make you more comfortable. Example: I had dry mouth and nausea - fruit flavored hard candy helped. Reading helped me pass…
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Is it Just Me or..(off topic)
Are the rest of you experiencing difficulty with pages loading on this website from time to time? Several times I've gotten so frustrated I just left the site. Couldn't even log off. My assumption is that this site gets too much traffic for the server to handle. That says a lot about how many people depend on this site for…
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ROLL CALL 2011 CLOSED. REPORT BACK IN 2012 LISTING
AM UPDATING ROLL CALL. If you had not checked in for year 2011, please post. Thank you. Please note that there are two rosters. The first lists those who have reported back in year 2011. The second are those who have not checked in. Some may already have posted in this thread and will update the roster in January. CHECKED…
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Foamy mouth and heartburn from chemo
Any one get a foamy mouth or heartburn from chemo? I'm on my third, 3-week cycle of cisplatin, taxotere and then a week with a fanny pack of 5FU. When I get the pack removed (yesterday), I get terrible chest pain and took a Prilosec, which helped. Doc wasn't concerned. Almost worse is the foamy mouth I get with chemo. I…
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One down
Thirty two to go. Well that went pretty smooth for the first session, they say the first one is a little longer because of putting all the markings and crosshairs on the mask. I did feel a little bit of Anxiety creeping in because I'm not very good at lying on my back because of post nasal Drip and I seem to block of my…
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damage to ears from radiation
I am 9 yrs post radiation for adenocarcinoma of a minor salivary gland. In July of last year i was found to have holes in my external ear canals with visible bone showing. My ENT did cleaning and gentian violet and monthly checks until november without improvement. In November I started Hyperbaric therapy and completed 40…
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Follow-up on Cyberknife
I wanted to do a quick post about my experience--so far--with Cyberknife since it appears that not a lot of people have had experience with it and there's a surprising lack of information online about HNC and Cyberknife. To step back, I have HPV+ tongue cancer. I've had three tongue surgeries since May to remove very small…
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Suggestions for inability to tolerate "metallic" taste?
My husband just finished his third week of radiation for cancer at the base of his tongue. He has a very very low pain threshold and has been in pain for two years. MRI in Dec. finally detected the cancer and so he's on the tough part of treatment now. I'm trying anything I can think of to get him to eat. He's getting…
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Home for A While
Hi all: Got back Monday afternoon from NC. All was well there. In-laws doing pretty good. Father-in-law had 88th birthday while I was there. The boys did let me back in the house and were so overjoyed to see Mama of course. Believe it or not, am finally taking down Chritmas decorations! I leave them up thru Feb.! I love…
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This is surprising
For the last couple of weeks I have been getting a lot of thick packets of denial information from Medicare. Basically, they are denying all of my IMRT treatments because their medical review person does not belive they are medically necessary. Today I called the Onc's office and the story is that Medicare does not yet…
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almost done
Hello Forum, Well I am on the last stretch. 5 more rads and one more chemo and I am done with the current active treatment plan. It is weird, the infected lymph nodes that were oh so visible are all but melted away. I am so excited to get this phase over with and start towards recover from treatment. I have stage 4…
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constipation
Well looks like I'm posting again. this time about a different topic. Having a hard time with constipation and extremely painful hemrroids. It hurts so much that I cry. I'm scared to be on pain meds cause of side effects and sometimes it makes you more constipated. I was on didlaudid for pain and cetalopram for depression.…
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Surgery on Monday
My husband will fight the beast for the third time on Monday. Doctors have decided to remove his oropharynx (2 cm) surgically, and then decide whether to re-radiate him, give chemo, etc... depending on what they find in surgery, clean margins, etc. So Monday we begin AGAIN. It has been 2 weeks since he was re-diagnosed and…
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Big Day Tomorrow
I haven't posted here in a while. I have been battling pain, depression,, anxiety and a host of other problems. I had a full body CT scan on Monday and tomorrow I meet with my cancer Doc to see if the chemo drug is still shrinking the tumors in my face, lungs, and spine. This is the second scan since chemo started and the…
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One more day
Well, one more day to go before I start my treatment. Thursday at 1:30 I have my 1st radiation session (IMRT). I met with the Chemo Dr today and He told me I was STILL aT20n0m. A CT scan last week shown no signifcent Change in size and for the first time he told me it was hpv+ Which my wife looked at me funny (22years…
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Nose blocking NPC
Hi I've my radiation treatment finished a month ago and still my nose is always blocking. I will have to clear it by time to time. Any of you have the same experience as I do? Any comments and suggestion, appreciated! cheers, Neo
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Question for the Ladies
For those of us that lost all of our hair thru treatment, my hair is coming back in about 1/4 all over my head , not wanting to sounding toooo vain it's coming in gray and I think it makes me looked washed out..I've always been a redhead. I saw my stylist over the weekend and we discussed giving me some color, I am 2…
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From Stage IV to Center Stage ~ Denise DeSimone
For those that like to read and such, LOL.... I haven't personally read this book, but it is of a topic that we all share in common; From Stage IV to Center Stage I saw it on Daytime this morning... Best, John
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Good news and confusion about my esthesio removal and f/o tx
I went for my follow-up appointment with ENT and Rad Onc yesterday. The good news is the path results came back saying that the tumor was as we expected an esthesioneuroblastoma, but all the margins were clear. The ENT was mentally patting herself on the back...I'm happy she did a good job too. But she was not sure that…
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5-Treatment - High Dose Radiation ???
I posted last week about my husband having recurrence. Likely he will have another surgery, chemo and re-radiation (it's been over 2 years, so they say he is 'eligible'). However, yesterday when we saw Radiation Oncologist, he mentioned a different type of radiation that is very high dose, targets the tumor specifically,…
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A heavy heart
It's too early but I didn't sleep well. Went online to read our local newspaper and was very saddened to see a gal I had met had died. I live in a small town of about 15,000. Last April while waiting for my PET scan there was a woman in the next cubicle awaiting her's also. She over heard what my cancer was and where I was…
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Peg Tube Removal
I'm about to schedule the removal of my peg tube and would like to know how the peg is removed. I did read somewhere that all they do is pull it out. If so, doesn't it hurt?
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brand new
Hello there. I am a caregiver to my wife Shae. She'll post sometimes, too sick to right now. She finished radiation therapy 3 months ago for ethmoid cancer. Everything was fine until last month when she totally has gone into decline. During the actual treatment she was great, ate wonderfully. her doc just told us Thursday…
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Feeding Tube advice
So my father is getting his feeding tube tomorrow , we take him in at 8 and his surgery is at 10am! He will then start radiation and chemo next monday..It is starting to get too real and I just fear he will be in pain. So my question is how did you feel after the feeding tube was put in, any pain or anything that helped…
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Sudden taste loss
I am about 8 months from last rads and was congratulating myself that a large part of my taste had returned (after around the 3rd month). I have a cold right now and have completely lost all taste and smell overnight. Haven't had a cold or flu since treatment so no idea if this is normal in the new normal way of things. I…
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Update on Surgery - Lung Spot turned out to be cancerous
My husband's 6 month PET showed all clear above the neck but the spot on his lung that they were watching got a bit bigger. Due to kidney issues caused by the chemo he can't get contrast with his scans so the RO referred us to a thoracic surgeon to have a bronchoscopy done. That came back negative but they didn't feel like…