One week+ out and

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Mrs. Sarge
Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
wondering if I'm on course or if I've possibly made my recovery harder by continuing to eat ordinary food, for the most part. I tried to update my profile and couldn't get into my page by editing to give the updates of my treatments, but I'm thru with my rads only to vocal cords only. I still need liquid hydrocodone and magic mouthwash which I just swallow as my mouth isn't sore, just my throat. I have continued to eat even a hamburger/fries, once, by eating small bites, chewing lots and washing down with water/milk. I have wondered if by doing so I have made my throat more sore or even scraped off any "scabs" inside my throat (down below where I can see) or if this dryness/roughness/choking I feel is all normal and will just gradually heal. If I try to talk too much or even doing chores, my throat will constrict it seems, and choke me to throwing up or for sure coughing fits, until it calms down with whatever I can do to calm it. Maybe I'm just anxious to get on with things but if just eating smoothies only, mashed potatoes, etc.etc. would speed things up, I guess I can do that, but if it makes no difference, I'll continue on.....guess I could try only soft for a few days to check it out, huh? Just looking for a little advice. Having to go get refills for the mouthwash and hydrocodone today, and was hoping I wouldn't need it again, this far out. Had to get up in the night for another dose just to go back to sleep. Otherwise I feel good, energy great, ready to get on with things!! :)

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  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #2
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    would you continue to hit your thumb with a hammer
    or would you avoid the second exposure? :) I dunno, but having had this problem (my mouth is still pretty sore 4 months out from treatment and I still have a few oral ulcers) I just went back on a liquid diet for a few days because I was making myself more sore by forcing solid food. Things will heal in their own time. I don't know it helps to force things.

    Pat
  • Tonsil Dad
    Tonsil Dad Member Posts: 488
    #3
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    10 weeks.
    Hi Mrs Sarge, I'm 10 weeks out and sometimes I think I've gone five steps
    forward and two steps backward. After rads everything was great, eating
    regular food, lots of energy no neck burns ( dry mouth and no taste) but everything
    was going good. Now, my tast has come back a little but my mouth is so sore
    not with sores but the whole soft, hard palate and ulula burn like crazy with
    anything, I mean anything that goes in the mouth ( the throat is not sore). The
    dry mouth has got much worse I have no saliva whatsoever. Also I cannot
    breath through the nose, my ENT said it looks like Nasopharyngeal stenosis
    and there is only multiple surgurys to TRY to correct this. My body also aches
    alot more now than it did.
    Anyway I look at it as it can only get better.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.
  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #4
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    longtermsurvivor said:

    would you continue to hit your thumb with a hammer
    or would you avoid the second exposure? :) I dunno, but having had this problem (my mouth is still pretty sore 4 months out from treatment and I still have a few oral ulcers) I just went back on a liquid diet for a few days because I was making myself more sore by forcing solid food. Things will heal in their own time. I don't know it helps to force things.

    Pat

    Ok....
    I think you're right!!! Don't know if it is making it more sore, but I sure won't know if I continue, huh? I have found that berries/bananas make my throat burn, but I know I can do other things in smoothies and may make another batch of that mineral broth that was so good, early on. Thanks for your help!! I'll let you know in a week if it helps! I guess sometimes it doesn't heal quickly enough as my rad/onc told me that if I need it in a month he could give me steroids to help with the swelling/healing. I know there are cons about that too, so would like to heal naturally, if possible. Thanks again for the input.
  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #5
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    Tonsil Dad said:

    10 weeks.
    Hi Mrs Sarge, I'm 10 weeks out and sometimes I think I've gone five steps
    forward and two steps backward. After rads everything was great, eating
    regular food, lots of energy no neck burns ( dry mouth and no taste) but everything
    was going good. Now, my tast has come back a little but my mouth is so sore
    not with sores but the whole soft, hard palate and ulula burn like crazy with
    anything, I mean anything that goes in the mouth ( the throat is not sore). The
    dry mouth has got much worse I have no saliva whatsoever. Also I cannot
    breath through the nose, my ENT said it looks like Nasopharyngeal stenosis
    and there is only multiple surgurys to TRY to correct this. My body also aches
    alot more now than it did.
    Anyway I look at it as it can only get better.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.

    Oh my!!!
    Sorry to hear that!! I'm sure your treatment was more severe than mine but I find since quitting rads, it's been downhill too!! Oh well, it CAN get better, that's for sure!!! Sure hope you don't have to have a lot of surgeries.....not good!! This CA journey sure isn't for wimps!!
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #6
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    Mrs. Sarge said:

    Oh my!!!
    Sorry to hear that!! I'm sure your treatment was more severe than mine but I find since quitting rads, it's been downhill too!! Oh well, it CAN get better, that's for sure!!! Sure hope you don't have to have a lot of surgeries.....not good!! This CA journey sure isn't for wimps!!

    There is something to the downhill spiral
    when we finish rads...I'm getting it, too. We finished in the same week, Mrs. Sarge...and my tongue was never this sore, during them....I would sworn my mouth and throat couldn't get dryer than it was at the end of rads, but by gawd it is!! I never used MM until last week. I'm still 90% liquid diet, with soupy cottage cheese and mac and cheese as the only respite from Ensure and Instant Breakfast VHC. They go down with ease, but my tongue is still bothered by them.

    I'd give a softer diet a try....nothing to lose, and lost to gain if it works for you.

    p
  • Tonsil Dad
    Tonsil Dad Member Posts: 488
    #7
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    Mrs. Sarge said:

    Oh my!!!
    Sorry to hear that!! I'm sure your treatment was more severe than mine but I find since quitting rads, it's been downhill too!! Oh well, it CAN get better, that's for sure!!! Sure hope you don't have to have a lot of surgeries.....not good!! This CA journey sure isn't for wimps!!

    Treatment.
    Actualy Mrs Sarge, I proberbly had one of the easiest
    treatments on here.....33 rads only, thats what's fustraiting.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.
  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #8
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    good luck
    Hi Mrs. Sarge,

    I commend you on eating anything, let alone hamburger and fries. I don’t know about scraping off scabs, but it might be rough on the throat. Even though I try to eat, smoothies are my preferred method of nourishment.

    I got into the coughing fits by trying to clear the phlegm out of my throat (what a trip). It sounded like I was choking to death, but I wasn’t.

    I hear you on the magic mouth wash; I would often take 5 to 10 mls in the middle of night during the worst times. Sleep was my one refuge from all the daily battles.

    You sound ahead of the game on eating and about like the rest of us on everything else.

    Best,

    Matt

    13 weeks post
  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #9
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    CivilMatt said:

    good luck
    Hi Mrs. Sarge,

    I commend you on eating anything, let alone hamburger and fries. I don’t know about scraping off scabs, but it might be rough on the throat. Even though I try to eat, smoothies are my preferred method of nourishment.

    I got into the coughing fits by trying to clear the phlegm out of my throat (what a trip). It sounded like I was choking to death, but I wasn’t.

    I hear you on the magic mouth wash; I would often take 5 to 10 mls in the middle of night during the worst times. Sleep was my one refuge from all the daily battles.

    You sound ahead of the game on eating and about like the rest of us on everything else.

    Best,

    Matt

    13 weeks post

    Matt
    Oh yes the coughing.....just now eating watermelon and coughing like crazy....I don't know if its the cold, the liquid it turns to, what.....it's absolutely crazy!! Yes, phrannie, I'm definitely worse this week! Well, they told us it keeps on cooking! UGH! Tonsil Dad, I only had 28 rads only, but they were the usual dose ramped up into only 28. New protocol, it seems!! I just want it effective, if you know what I mean!! (of course we all do!! ha)
  • tuffenuff
    tuffenuff Member Posts: 277
    #10
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    it probably depends on what
    it probably depends on what country you are from.

    when i had my tonsil out, i was all over the internet researching what to expect. doctors in the UK send you home and instruct you to eat as normal. in the US they put you on soft foods for weeks. the UK way results in faster healing time because the rough fods continually debride the germs from the tissue.

    having said that, why cause yourself more pain than necessary?

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