Post Throat Surgery (Partial Laryngectomy) Recovery

Positive_Mental_Attitude

Hi All,

I am a visitor from the kidney cancer forum.  I posted another thread here about my brother's options for surgery to remove a tumor from his throat. He had his surgery last week, a partial laryngectomy, and he is doing relatively well.  I have read the superthread.

He lives with a roommate in a rural part of Vermont.  He is not married and his relatives are all 5-6 hours away.  He will be going home this week, and he will be on a nasogastric feeding tube for 6-8 weeks.   Visiting nurses will check on him. 

A complicating factor that we have discussed with his team is that he is an alcoholic.  Does anyone here have any experience or suggestions in coping after surgery and the pain meds wear off?  His nurses at the hospital say he is not going through withdrawal. I am trying to connect with his primary care physician to get him into a program and get help to deal with alcoholism.

Since he will not be able to ingest anything by mouth for a while, I hope he will not try to drink.

Any thoughts or resources would be appreciated.

Thank you.

wmc

Not sure how to respond.

I guess the question is if he is an alcoholic, or just is a heavy drinker. Please forgive and understand, I will have to be blunt. If the nurse says he is not going through withdrawals, he is not alcoholic, just drinks too much, drunk, lush, I don't know. I would really hope he stops alcohol as it is #2 reason to get head & neck cancer. Could he put in his feed tube, yes. Will that hurt him, Yes. Can it affect his healing, yes. Can he stop? I don't know.

I remember you post on him. I am a full laryngectomee and does he have any speach ot a vocal cords? I have none and he really does not want to get where I am.  This is one of the worst cancer to go through. Doctors say only Leukemia is worse. Not taking anything away you have gone through, kidney is no walk in the park. You really do care about your brother, but you just might not be able to change him. It was said if I continued to smoke, my odds were about 90% it would come back. I have never had any form of tobacco, so my odds are only 25%. I would only guess his might be as bad. Most are advised to not drink. Not sure if this helps or not.

Bill

Kent Cass

My Cousin (and me)

I do have a revelation: I am an alcoholic. Uh-huh. Went thru 5 weeks of rehab in Proctor Hospital in Peoria in the summer of '85, and have been sober ever since. Caterpillar sponsored the rehab getting started at Proctor, and when they searched the USA for the one to get the Betty Ford Clinic started- same man who started the rehab at Proctor is the one they chose for the BFC, or so we were told. In my defense, hey, I graduated HS in '72, and if Keith Richards can do it, so can I! Uh...not.

My Cousin was a devoted alcoholic when he started tx for Esophageal. Basically, his C&R, then Op and recovery turned him from being an alcoholic into a drug addict. His Sister stayed close to him, and I was shocked by the amount of pain meds he was taking. Basically, the pain drugs replace the alcohol, and likely withdrawal symptoms. I would be wary of him becoming pain med dependent, and God forbid he gets into mixing pain meds with alcohol...Just be aware, and express your concerns with his Drs.

kcass

Positive_Mental_Attitude

One other question. I am

One other question. I am going to visit him this weekend. He already said that he needed a pill crusher to take his meds.  Can anyone think of anything else I can bring him to make his recovery easier?  It can be anything simple like gauze pads and tweezers.

I already bought him a couple of long books to read and a tablet so he can stay occupied while he recovers.  Thanks again for your responses.

wmc

Positive_Mental_Attitude said:

One other question. I am

One other question. I am going to visit him this weekend. He already said that he needed a pill crusher to take his meds.  Can anyone think of anything else I can bring him to make his recovery easier?  It can be anything simple like gauze pads and tweezers.

I already bought him a couple of long books to read and a tablet so he can stay occupied while he recovers.  Thanks again for your responses.

They should give one to him

I had to have one when I was still in hospital. They should give it to him as they used one in the hospital and charged he for it. It has two parts. The top flips open and will cut the pill in half, or more if needed. The botom you put in the pill and it turns and will crush it to a powder. All Drug stors have them as well. Watch out on time release as you do not crush them.

I do hope the Partial Laryngectomy does the trick as he will keep his voice, and it my be a little weak or hourse sounding, but that is much better than a full laryngectomee. He will still breath through his mouth and nose, and believe me that IS a big deal. I have the Full Laryngectomee and breath through my neck and all my nose does is hold up my galsses.

 

Bill

Positive_Mental_Attitude

wmc said:

They should give one to him

I had to have one when I was still in hospital. They should give it to him as they used one in the hospital and charged he for it. It has two parts. The top flips open and will cut the pill in half, or more if needed. The botom you put in the pill and it turns and will crush it to a powder. All Drug stors have them as well. Watch out on time release as you do not crush them.

I do hope the Partial Laryngectomy does the trick as he will keep his voice, and it my be a little weak or hourse sounding, but that is much better than a full laryngectomee. He will still breath through his mouth and nose, and believe me that IS a big deal. I have the Full Laryngectomee and breath through my neck and all my nose does is hold up my galsses.

 

Bill

Bill, thank you so much. You

Bill, thank you so much. You are a kind soul.  By the way, you look terrific in your picture.

On the pill crusher--there are a lot of little and big details that were missed.  We ordered one from Amazon and he will have it tomorrow.  He and I have been talking by phone to work out a few details on his medications that got messed up.  From everything I can now see on the details of his procedure, he may be in good shape.  I am going up to see him again this weekend, and tell him how lucky he is, considering how much he punished his body over the years.  I will go gently, as nobody wants to be lectured.  Hopefully, he will get that he basically has a clean slate and a chance to live his life in a way that will not do more damage to his body.  Easier said than done. 

Anyway, today was a day of progress, and hope to make more over the weekend.  Thank you again for your help.

Barbaraek

Team approach

I'm glad you seem to realize that you can only be somewhat responsible in helping your brother. As caregivers we do wat we are able, but it really is up to the patient to be proactive about following recommendations from their doctor. Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up about it...

My best recommendation would be to make sure that your brother's doctors and health care team are aware of all the variables and potential obstacles to recovery - such as a history of heavy alcohol consumption. Looking on the bright side (which I like to do whenever possible) maybe this is a turning point for him and he will commit to a healthier lifestyle.

Prayers for you,

Barbara

Positive_Mental_Attitude

wmc said:

Not sure how to respond.

I guess the question is if he is an alcoholic, or just is a heavy drinker. Please forgive and understand, I will have to be blunt. If the nurse says he is not going through withdrawals, he is not alcoholic, just drinks too much, drunk, lush, I don't know. I would really hope he stops alcohol as it is #2 reason to get head & neck cancer. Could he put in his feed tube, yes. Will that hurt him, Yes. Can it affect his healing, yes. Can he stop? I don't know.

I remember you post on him. I am a full laryngectomee and does he have any speach ot a vocal cords? I have none and he really does not want to get where I am.  This is one of the worst cancer to go through. Doctors say only Leukemia is worse. Not taking anything away you have gone through, kidney is no walk in the park. You really do care about your brother, but you just might not be able to change him. It was said if I continued to smoke, my odds were about 90% it would come back. I have never had any form of tobacco, so my odds are only 25%. I would only guess his might be as bad. Most are advised to not drink. Not sure if this helps or not.

Bill

Thank you for your answer. 

Thank you for your answer.  There are no easy answers. I have received a lot of conflicting information on what his procedure was.  I was at the hospital on Saturday, and there were no doctors to talk to.  They sent me an orthapaedic intern to discuss his condition with me, and he plainly admitted he was worthless as he did not read or have access to his chart. As far as I can tell, from the latest info I got from a nurse was he had a PARTIAL laryngectomy, and his vocal cords remained in tact.  I am trying to get online access to his records, which is permitted, but it seemst they did not properly set him up for that.

 

Positive_Mental_Attitude

Kent Cass said:

My Cousin (and me)

I do have a revelation: I am an alcoholic. Uh-huh. Went thru 5 weeks of rehab in Proctor Hospital in Peoria in the summer of '85, and have been sober ever since. Caterpillar sponsored the rehab getting started at Proctor, and when they searched the USA for the one to get the Betty Ford Clinic started- same man who started the rehab at Proctor is the one they chose for the BFC, or so we were told. In my defense, hey, I graduated HS in '72, and if Keith Richards can do it, so can I! Uh...not.

My Cousin was a devoted alcoholic when he started tx for Esophageal. Basically, his C&R, then Op and recovery turned him from being an alcoholic into a drug addict. His Sister stayed close to him, and I was shocked by the amount of pain meds he was taking. Basically, the pain drugs replace the alcohol, and likely withdrawal symptoms. I would be wary of him becoming pain med dependent, and God forbid he gets into mixing pain meds with alcohol...Just be aware, and express your concerns with his Drs.

kcass

Thanks for the answer.  My

Thanks for the answer.  As noted above by wmc, he has to want to change himself.  I am going to do my best to motivate him, but he has to make his own decision.