sinu-nasal undifferentiated carcenoma

lindapredmore
lindapredmore Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Is there anyone out there, that can enlighten me ?? My son has the above diagnosis and is about to start radiation. He has finished his chemo. He is being treated by M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas. I am his mother and very concerned.
Thank-you in advance.

Comments

  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #2
    Ma'am: I don't know the exact nature of your concerns, and my cancer was a bit different (I had half of my tongue replaced, etc), I am fairly confident that your son and I will have experienced some similar things before he is over with it.

    If I am not mistaken, he will be wearing a mask. It is a frightening thing for anyone. I recommend a tad bit of valium before the treatment, if this is the case. There is no way that human beings should have to wear that mask and be bolted down to a table without some sort of relaxation.

    I advise you or his nurses or doctors to prepare him in advance for the possibility of burning. My wife is a certified wound care therapist (BS, RN, WCT) and she got something called biofine for me, and lathered me with it before and after rads, and I did not burn, while I know of at least one other who was roasted by same rad doc as me.

    I would check with docs before using it, but I promise you, that worked wonders for me.

    You can expect heavy duty phlegm from your son. I don't know how long his rads will last or how frequently they will occur, but I suspect they will be daily over a number of weeks. In which case, ma'am, he will go to sleep at night and be waking up each hour or two needing to expel the stuff that seems to be keeping him from breathing.

    This is normal, if annoying.

    He will have some swelling, I imagine. Some of it will make it hard for him to swallow while undergoing the rads. Some of it will be the result of radiation scarring of tissue that may never go away. He doesn't have my cancer, so he might get past that one :).

    You can expect whatever effects he does have from rads to last beyond the radiation treatments for a number of weeks.

    Don't let that frighten you or him. He will be fine.

    And it will drain him. He will be fatigued. Greatly so, but dependent in part upon his age.

    Otherwise, your son is on the way to survivorship and a future. And he has a mother who loves him.

    I don't know what more he could ask of life :).

    Take care. My thoughts are with you both.
  • aunkr
    aunkr Member Posts: 2
    #3
    Hi,
    Have you got a different name for his cancer? My hsuband has been diagnosed with esthesioneuroblastoma, which is a type of undifferentiated carcinoma in the sinu-nasal area.
  • krayon63
    krayon63 Member Posts: 3
    #4
    I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in oct 2006-i underwent radiation-for 2 months- no chemo. my ent found the cancer behind a polyp he removed in my left sinus. the radiation was not bad until the end. i was exhausted the last couple of weeks. my hair fell out in the front and in the back of my head- where the beam went thru. i lost all of the hair in my nose. the discharge was bad- saline rinse was helpful. my mouth was dry and nothing tasted good. all i wanted to do was sleep. the mask i had to wear was the pits-i'm now cancer free-feel free to ask god to take it into his hands and pray for healing

Discussion Boards