Starting third weekd of rads and his throat is killing him.

arndog64
arndog64 Member Posts: 537
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband is on his 3rd week of rads and his throat is starting to tighteng up and he is having trouble swallowing food and pills. The doctor put him on morphine today and I believe the magic mouth wash. Will the narrowing of the throat get worse?

Comments

  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #2
    Likely-
    the morphine will help a lot, as likely the pain degree will require the Morph use. He must keep the swallowing function going- sipping water, or sucking on ice to get the water slowly down the throat, and at the same time cooling-down his mouth. Would advise chopping-up the pills.

    kcass
  • adventurebob
    adventurebob Member Posts: 691
    #3
    PEG?
    Hi arndog
    Can't remember if he elected to get the PEG or not but now would be a good time for that; before the weekend and another 4 days of rads add up. Whatever side effects he is experiencing now will most likely increase gradually until peaking about 2-4 weeks after his last rad. Can't really recommend the PEG enough, especially at this point. This is the situation that it's designed for. It will help. Stay strong.

    Bob
  • ToBeGolden
    ToBeGolden Member Posts: 695
    #4
    Eating is a challenge
    Eating is a challenge, no doubt about it. I was able to maintain weight, but it wasn't easy. Everything, including water, had to be body temperature (as if you were feeding a newborn). My wife reminded me of placing a bottle of water into a sauce pan on body temperature water. Anything that was not body temperature was more painful.

    I took forever to eat anything or to drink water. A carton of yogurt took over an hour. But I ate 8 very small meals a day (every 4 hours around the clock). I drank a lot of body temperature Glucerna (an Ensure-like drink for diabetics). As the treatment progressed, I could not drink anything cold (although my treatment was during July and August).

    These hints may not work. But keep trying to change the food/drink to see if there is something that he will tolerate.

    I did not need a PEG. But if I were unable to eat, I certainly would have opted for it. I have too many friends with head/neck cancer and have had successfully used the PEG for nutrition. And they have returned to "normal" eating by mouth.
  • arndog64
    arndog64 Member Posts: 537
    #5
    ToBeGolden said:

    Eating is a challenge
    Eating is a challenge, no doubt about it. I was able to maintain weight, but it wasn't easy. Everything, including water, had to be body temperature (as if you were feeding a newborn). My wife reminded me of placing a bottle of water into a sauce pan on body temperature water. Anything that was not body temperature was more painful.

    I took forever to eat anything or to drink water. A carton of yogurt took over an hour. But I ate 8 very small meals a day (every 4 hours around the clock). I drank a lot of body temperature Glucerna (an Ensure-like drink for diabetics). As the treatment progressed, I could not drink anything cold (although my treatment was during July and August).

    These hints may not work. But keep trying to change the food/drink to see if there is something that he will tolerate.

    I did not need a PEG. But if I were unable to eat, I certainly would have opted for it. I have too many friends with head/neck cancer and have had successfully used the PEG for nutrition. And they have returned to "normal" eating by mouth.

    I am off Friday and I am
    I am off Friday and I am going to his rad treatments and discuss the PEG tube and the Saliva shot with his rad doctor. He was in the hospital for Kidney problems last Monday and Tuesday. After he got out he was eating like a maniac. Now, he is back to hardly eating due to the pain. Sipping water is painful. One day at a time!
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #6
    Kent Cass said:

    Likely-
    the morphine will help a lot, as likely the pain degree will require the Morph use. He must keep the swallowing function going- sipping water, or sucking on ice to get the water slowly down the throat, and at the same time cooling-down his mouth. Would advise chopping-up the pills.

    kcass

    FYI
    The one caveat to Kent's advice is that if hub is taking any time-released meds, chopping them up may well defeat the purpose. That was my experience anyway. Check with doc who administered the medication (if applicable) before going that route.

    And I have this to add, unrelated to meds: if hub has not been provided an anti-burning agent for the exterior of the area being radiated, you should check with RadMan at once about getting something to resolve that so that he does not risk second or third degree burns.

    Some of us old-timers are familiar with aquaphor and biafene (my personal favorite), and some of our organically-inclined brothers and sisters would suggest natural aloe. In any event, you do not want a petroleum-based agent since these tend to increase radiation absorption from what I've been told. Regardless, consult with RadMan about this and get something that you or hub can apply every day immediately AFTER treatment, if this has not already been done (it will likely not help with the swallowing issue).

    Best wishes to hub and his family.

    Take care,

    Joe

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