checking in - 14 rads done so far

Goyca

Dears, 

sorry i haven't been available much recently. To be honest I'm not enjoying this rad treatments at all ! And sorry for the long post!

 

14 sessions done, still have another 14. I have developed a reflux / gastritis problem in my stomach because of stress (that's what the Dr. told me) Haven't been eating for the past week.my day is like 1 apple, 1 banana and a cup of tea for example! The eating problem isnt just taste, its that im gagging and i feel that my stomatch is soooo full and nausea kicks in.

 

 

Been on Xanax for the past week, it helped with the stomach cramps. Had also med for protecting the stomach and one for nausea. Monday the Dr wants to see me, he said he might order a brain scan, he said this constant nausea isn't a normal side effect for the field they are working on.

 

i had an emotional melt down few days ago, well i lost my energy, not going out (except for the rads trips) and losing interest in almost everything. I just wish will end soon. Still 14 sessions to go, i should be stronger, but the nausea is holding me back. I wish Monday the Dr will figure it out and help me.

 

Thank God for my family, especially my mum. Thank God for you, H&N friends. I pray this will pass with minimum damage.

 

with everything said, try to keep smiling:)  

Xoxo,

 

Goyca.

phyl759

RADIATION tREATMENTS AND THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS

Hello:

 

I am now 18 treatments down with 15 to go. I am so tired, somewhat depressed but the worst of it is the discomfort in my toothless, new upper jaw under flap horror of a mouth.  Surgery was eight weeks ago. Have an unclosed opening on my leg from the removal of fibular to make new jaw. Still walking with a cane due to this unhealed, often painful wound.  All eating is very painful. With pain, I am doing homemade soup. I cheat with a bite here and there with other things, but then I pay the consequence of the pain and the distress.  Sleeping is not all that great either. My entire left side of my face from the scalp through the upper chest is numb, tingling, somewhat painful. Upper chest distress is due to the 33 lymph nodes taken from my neck. My hearing and my eyesight have been effected first by the surgery and now exaserbated by the RT. Each day I pray for the end of this-as well as wondering how long after the RT is over will I feel human again. If ever. I was told they might start with inplants early next year. Bummer. I am so hungry in so many ways.  When will this horror be over. Magic mouthwash does not really work--it does "numb" the mouth cavity from the swishing. I, too, take an anti-anxiety Xanax each morning before I go for the RT. I did take some codeine for the pain, but it wreaked havoc with my gastro system. Now limiting pain killers to Tylenol and Tylenol PM. Back to the RT-----the mouthguard (gag) with the face mask are straight out of a horror movie.  Thanks for letting me vent.

debbiejeanne

goyca, i'm so sorry the tx is

goyca, i'm so sorry the tx is being so rough on you, especially when you still have 14 to go.  eating becomes a problem for most.  i hope it doesn't get any worse for you.  emotional break downs are allowed.  you are going thru hell right now so it is completely understanable.  i'm 2.5 yrs out from tx and i have them every now and then.  don't be too hard on yourself.  it is a shame what we have to endure to be well again but you will get thru this, goyca, i promise.  just stay strong and keeping looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.  it's not too far away now.  won't be long and you will see it.  we are here for you.  listen hard and you will hear us cheering for you from the sidelines.  go goyca, go goyca, go goyca.  we're here for you.

God bless you.

dj

debbiejeanne

phyl759 said:

RADIATION tREATMENTS AND THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS

Hello:

 

I am now 18 treatments down with 15 to go. I am so tired, somewhat depressed but the worst of it is the discomfort in my toothless, new upper jaw under flap horror of a mouth.  Surgery was eight weeks ago. Have an unclosed opening on my leg from the removal of fibular to make new jaw. Still walking with a cane due to this unhealed, often painful wound.  All eating is very painful. With pain, I am doing homemade soup. I cheat with a bite here and there with other things, but then I pay the consequence of the pain and the distress.  Sleeping is not all that great either. My entire left side of my face from the scalp through the upper chest is numb, tingling, somewhat painful. Upper chest distress is due to the 33 lymph nodes taken from my neck. My hearing and my eyesight have been effected first by the surgery and now exaserbated by the RT. Each day I pray for the end of this-as well as wondering how long after the RT is over will I feel human again. If ever. I was told they might start with inplants early next year. Bummer. I am so hungry in so many ways.  When will this horror be over. Magic mouthwash does not really work--it does "numb" the mouth cavity from the swishing. I, too, take an anti-anxiety Xanax each morning before I go for the RT. I did take some codeine for the pain, but it wreaked havoc with my gastro system. Now limiting pain killers to Tylenol and Tylenol PM. Back to the RT-----the mouthguard (gag) with the face mask are straight out of a horror movie.  Thanks for letting me vent.

phyl759, you have really been

phyl759, you have really been thru it.  i'm so sorry your jaw is causing you so much pain.  to me, the neck dissection was the worst.  it took me a long time to recover from that.  it will get better you just have to hang in there.  won't be long now and your tx will be in the single digits and then it will be a breeze.  stay strong and know its you're half way there.  you'll be ringing the bell before you know it.  praying for you.

God bless you

dj

Fire34

Weight Loss ?

Goyca

I was on prophylactic zofran all 18 weeks of my treatment, after it is now prilosec(Barrets Esophagus) Ensure type of products are good for keeping the weight on, if you do not have any swallowing issues yet.

 How much weight have you lost? A loss of 15 pounds where I was treated was an instant PEG tube. I had a total of 49 rads that were concurrent with chemo. During mid of the third week, took a lot of concentration on just swallowing I got thru it during the last week when i went on that darn table started a countdown, 10 9 8 etc. The techs couldnt stop laughing. I was an inpatient of course

During treatment do you bring your favorite tunes? The techs had a library of there own and got to know us indivdually and knew what we liked, something to take your mind of that darn machine. Also did a lot of reading anything to keep distracted and a lot of walking the halls.

Wishes & Prayers, knowing you will make it

Dave

 

 

KTeacher

Half way

Almost half way done.  I don't think anyone likes the treatment, just look to the goal.  I know I needed to rest quite a bit.  Eating is a challenge, I went to smoothies, soups and soft food.  You will do it.  So glad you have support.  I couldn't walk in the kitchen when anyone was cooking, the smell of food and I lost it.

CivilMatt

half way

Goyca,

Sorry about the nausea, they make a lot of meds for it.

You must stay hydrated and it is good to keep swallowing, even a little.  You will feel lousy if you get dehydrated.

If you can’t eat, then drink your meals.  Your body burns up a lot of calories fighting cancer.

Try to work with your body and if you find what works, great.

Good luck,

Matt

CivilMatt

debbiejeanne said:

phyl759, you have really been

phyl759, you have really been thru it.  i'm so sorry your jaw is causing you so much pain.  to me, the neck dissection was the worst.  it took me a long time to recover from that.  it will get better you just have to hang in there.  won't be long now and your tx will be in the single digits and then it will be a breeze.  stay strong and know its you're half way there.  you'll be ringing the bell before you know it.  praying for you.

God bless you

dj

welcome

P759,

Welcome to the H&N forum, so sorry what you have been going through, but it sounds like you are managing and that is what counts.

Keep hanging in there!

Matt

wmc

Goyca...You're half way done :]

Sorry it so rough but remember your 14 down and half way there. Yesterday doesn't matter, only today. Today you don't feel so good. You might ask the Dr for something for the nausea. Might try Ice chips to stay hydrated, popsicles work well, and small bites of salteen crackers to help the stomach. Also pudding, chicken broth, cream of chicken has lots of calories. Try to get something [one bite] every 30 ~ 60 min.  Just hang in you are doing so good and it's almpst over.

I know it's tough and we're all proud of you for fighting so hard.

Bill

hwt

CivilMatt said:

half way

Goyca,

Sorry about the nausea, they make a lot of meds for it.

You must stay hydrated and it is good to keep swallowing, even a little.  You will feel lousy if you get dehydrated.

If you can’t eat, then drink your meals.  Your body burns up a lot of calories fighting cancer.

Try to work with your body and if you find what works, great.

Good luck,

Matt

Midway

I had jaw replaced w/fibula 01/2012 and original rads/Cisplatin 05/2012. What I recall most of rads/chemo was the halfway point. I had a g-tube but still lost 65 pounds. I probably slept atleast 20 hours a day, and I mean I slept soundly. I had to force myself to get up for tx, feedings and a short daily walk. Thank goodness for the pain meds, xanax and the fact that I only needed to travel 5 minutes to tx. After midpoint, things seemed to slowly get better. Post tx, I saw steady improvement. By week 5 post tx I felt like I turned a big corner and week 6 post tx had more energy than I hd before the whole nightmare started. 

Guess what I am saying is that with the right combo of drugs, I slept thru the worst of it.    

It's not easy but you can do it.  Be persistant til you get the right drug combo for you. 

Hondo

phyl759 said:

RADIATION tREATMENTS AND THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS

Hello:

 

I am now 18 treatments down with 15 to go. I am so tired, somewhat depressed but the worst of it is the discomfort in my toothless, new upper jaw under flap horror of a mouth.  Surgery was eight weeks ago. Have an unclosed opening on my leg from the removal of fibular to make new jaw. Still walking with a cane due to this unhealed, often painful wound.  All eating is very painful. With pain, I am doing homemade soup. I cheat with a bite here and there with other things, but then I pay the consequence of the pain and the distress.  Sleeping is not all that great either. My entire left side of my face from the scalp through the upper chest is numb, tingling, somewhat painful. Upper chest distress is due to the 33 lymph nodes taken from my neck. My hearing and my eyesight have been effected first by the surgery and now exaserbated by the RT. Each day I pray for the end of this-as well as wondering how long after the RT is over will I feel human again. If ever. I was told they might start with inplants early next year. Bummer. I am so hungry in so many ways.  When will this horror be over. Magic mouthwash does not really work--it does "numb" the mouth cavity from the swishing. I, too, take an anti-anxiety Xanax each morning before I go for the RT. I did take some codeine for the pain, but it wreaked havoc with my gastro system. Now limiting pain killers to Tylenol and Tylenol PM. Back to the RT-----the mouthguard (gag) with the face mask are straight out of a horror movie.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Hi phy759

 

You are just at the middle of your treatment so being tired is normal side effects of the treatment. I want to assure you that it will all be over soon real soon so hold in there and keep positive. I want to also welcome you to the family here on CSN H&N

 

  PS: If you like to pray, pray as much as you can and get a lot of others praying for you.

 

God Bless

Tim Hondo

Goyca

Dears,
thank you for your

Dears,

thank you for your ongoing support. It's true I'm half way through. I saw the doctors on Monday, they want to put me on Cortison pills until I finish rads they said its a treatment for the nausea. I haven't started yet, but eventually I think I will cz nausea is not stopping. I'm not having problem swallowing, I lost 4 kilos so far.

anyway، I wish all of this will end soon. A question guys, when treatments is over we go back to normal ? Or we keep having those problems?

 

God bless you all. And welcome for the new member , stay strong.

CivilMatt

Goyca said:

Dears,
thank you for your

Dears,

thank you for your ongoing support. It's true I'm half way through. I saw the doctors on Monday, they want to put me on Cortison pills until I finish rads they said its a treatment for the nausea. I haven't started yet, but eventually I think I will cz nausea is not stopping. I'm not having problem swallowing, I lost 4 kilos so far.

anyway، I wish all of this will end soon. A question guys, when treatments is over we go back to normal ? Or we keep having those problems?

 

God bless you all. And welcome for the new member , stay strong.

you are still you, just tweaked a bit

Goyca,

You start the “new normal”.

You learn to live with the changes,, which may include eating, swallowing, saliva, talking……..to name a few.

The immediate discomfort started to subside at about 2 weeks post rads.

I hope your new normal turns out ok.

Matt