Newly diagnosed

Karri

Skiffin16 said:

I couldn't even swallow my own spit.
You had spit...., I envy you....

I drooled imaginary slobbers, while I DVR'd the Food Channel....LOL

Best,
John

spit
LMFAO! yeah some how no one is sure how....but yes I have a lot more saliva then anyone my radiologist has encountered. AANNDD I had my saliva glands on my right side removed. Crazy right? Oh lord have mercy the food channel.....I am happy to say I have eaten everything that I wrote down in my "food dream" notebook!

robinleigh

Karri said:

spit
LMFAO! yeah some how no one is sure how....but yes I have a lot more saliva then anyone my radiologist has encountered. AANNDD I had my saliva glands on my right side removed. Crazy right? Oh lord have mercy the food channel.....I am happy to say I have eaten everything that I wrote down in my "food dream" notebook!

Tube or not
My husband was treated at Mayo and they had a rule that if you could make it through without a tube was great so that you would not lose your ability to swallow. If you lost 5 percent of your body weight they started considering a tube. If you lost 10 percent of your body weight it was not up for discussion. My husband lost 8 percent and I insisted he get a tube because he was having a miserable time getting the necessary caloric and protein intake down. Best decision we ever made. We promised to work on swallowing every single day and he is back to eating mostly a normal diet. The peg tube has been a safety net for us at times of not feeling well enough to eat. I'd go as far as saying it was a life saver at times!!!

hislove40

I don't have the tube and funny thing about the mask
I still have a hard time with the mask - guess I'm claustrophobic. I was thinking the techs were getting aggravated at me, but one guy just said girl they'd have to put me OUT to get under that thing and the other lady tech said - you wouldn't get me under that thing! I started laughing and actually felt validated then. I'm actually putting on weight because my throat is so sore that something cold like slimfast, yogurt, applesauce, ice water or shakes feel good going down even though my throat seems to be narrowing. I'm using ibuprofen for the swelling and it's working so far. I can still eat softer foods even though everything tastes like sulphur. My doc said I need 2500 calories which really surprised me as I'm only 5'3". So I'm trying to get the best nutrition while I still can. I'm only 16 out of 37 rads though so we'll see how this goes. I've learned so much from these boards and I'm being my own advocate as apparently there is an awful lot they didn't discuss with me. Also I find I only want to be around people that won't feel sorry for me as we need a fighters attitude. We're all here with you!
Cathy

francma

YES to Peg tube!
My doctor advised a peg tube prior to treatments because you are not going to feel up to it during your treatments. I took his advise and am glad I did. It really isn't a big deal having it done and it saved my life, for sure. I wasn't able to eat nor drink for months. Everyone is different. I think they may give you alot of calories because cancer burns up alot of calories itself. he recommended ensure and/or carnation breakfast drinks. They also have recipes on their website. Prayers go out to you. You can do it!!

Fran~

francma

hislove40 said:

I don't have the tube and funny thing about the mask
I still have a hard time with the mask - guess I'm claustrophobic. I was thinking the techs were getting aggravated at me, but one guy just said girl they'd have to put me OUT to get under that thing and the other lady tech said - you wouldn't get me under that thing! I started laughing and actually felt validated then. I'm actually putting on weight because my throat is so sore that something cold like slimfast, yogurt, applesauce, ice water or shakes feel good going down even though my throat seems to be narrowing. I'm using ibuprofen for the swelling and it's working so far. I can still eat softer foods even though everything tastes like sulphur. My doc said I need 2500 calories which really surprised me as I'm only 5'3". So I'm trying to get the best nutrition while I still can. I'm only 16 out of 37 rads though so we'll see how this goes. I've learned so much from these boards and I'm being my own advocate as apparently there is an awful lot they didn't discuss with me. Also I find I only want to be around people that won't feel sorry for me as we need a fighters attitude. We're all here with you!
Cathy

I don't have the tube and funny thing about the mask
Cathy

I too had a real hard time with the mask. I even took lorazapam! One thing about that medicine is that I should have been weaned off it. I developed chronic insomnia as a result of not being weaned and was on it too long after treatments. It took 3 months to get my sleep cyle back to "normal."

Mike
Again...I say....
Do what the doctor recommends...they have the expertise in having so many patients that have been through this. I recommend the feeding tube. Take yoga and practice relaxation techniques.

Fran~