Has anyone experienced Head Sores

depressed63
depressed63 Member Posts: 61 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Has anyone ever gotten head sores after the first round of treatment? A week ago yesterday my husband had his first treatment Cisplatin and Docetaxel and then he had 5 days of Flurouracil. Tuesday he had the Neulasta injection. He started getting sores in his mouth last Saturday and now he has sores in the lower back of his head. Very painful and it hurts to lay on it. They look very red. Is this normal? I thought he would get better when they shut off the Flurouracil but I guess these treatments hang around for a while after each one. I don't know if the shot made him tired, chemo, or both. He was in so much pain with the sores in his mouth that the doctor presribed a prescription for magic mouth wash. He can barely talk,, hasn't eaten much at all, he's trying to drink but very difficult and his body is worn out. Is this normal for the first treatment? I can't get him out of bed and when he does get up he's not up for very long.

Donna

Comments

  • arndog64
    arndog64 Member Posts: 537
    #2
    Sores on the neck, my
    Sores on the neck, my husband never had them. He did have days that his mouth hurt and the treatments kicked his behind he would stay in bed for long periods. But, watch him, whenever my husband did that he seemed to be getting sick and had to go to the hospital.
    Everyone is different..
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #3
    Sores-
    to the mouth- yes, this is typical if rads are applied to the mouth. My sores started 4 days after my rads started. Magic Mouthwash, and gargling w/baking soda time. As for the lower-back of the head- most of us lose hair there, and does get burned. I put Aquaphor on it frequently, as advised by my rad Dr., as well as all neck areas. If your rad Dr did not advise you to do so- that is a problem, because it is a given you should be advised such. Keep your Drs in the Loop as to how he is handling things- it is the Drs job to make treatment as easy as possible.

    kcass
  • depressed63
    depressed63 Member Posts: 61 Member
    #4
    Kent Cass said:

    Sores-
    to the mouth- yes, this is typical if rads are applied to the mouth. My sores started 4 days after my rads started. Magic Mouthwash, and gargling w/baking soda time. As for the lower-back of the head- most of us lose hair there, and does get burned. I put Aquaphor on it frequently, as advised by my rad Dr., as well as all neck areas. If your rad Dr did not advise you to do so- that is a problem, because it is a given you should be advised such. Keep your Drs in the Loop as to how he is handling things- it is the Drs job to make treatment as easy as possible.

    kcass

    Thanks Kent
    My husband has gone downhill and the radiation hasn't even started yet. He has been very ill since he got the Naulasta shot Tuesday. He's only had one chemo treatment with the 5FU for five days with mild throat and mouth sores. Now he's in so much pain that he wants the stomach peg and last week he refused to even consider it until radiation started.

    His throat, mouth, and stomach is in a lot of pain. He can't even get ensure down and his throat hurts to bad to talk or swallow. We see the oncologist nurse tomorrow. I hope they take blood and I hope they can help us with these symptoms because the magic mouth wash is not helping. They prescribed vicodin but he can't swallow it and he's taken it before his cancer and he said even if he could get it down it would make his stomach even worse. He thought the tumor was getting smaller and the treatment was working. I'm not sure if it was but if his mind thinks that way then that must be a positive thing. Now he thinks it has gotten bigger since he got that shot. The sores on the back of his head on one side seems to be getting better. The area on the back of his head isn't as swelled as it was last night and he doesn't have a fever.

    Everyone here has been so kind and inspirational through all of this and I'm so thankful to have found such a wonderful group of people.

    Donna
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #5
    depressed63 said:

    Thanks Kent
    My husband has gone downhill and the radiation hasn't even started yet. He has been very ill since he got the Naulasta shot Tuesday. He's only had one chemo treatment with the 5FU for five days with mild throat and mouth sores. Now he's in so much pain that he wants the stomach peg and last week he refused to even consider it until radiation started.

    His throat, mouth, and stomach is in a lot of pain. He can't even get ensure down and his throat hurts to bad to talk or swallow. We see the oncologist nurse tomorrow. I hope they take blood and I hope they can help us with these symptoms because the magic mouth wash is not helping. They prescribed vicodin but he can't swallow it and he's taken it before his cancer and he said even if he could get it down it would make his stomach even worse. He thought the tumor was getting smaller and the treatment was working. I'm not sure if it was but if his mind thinks that way then that must be a positive thing. Now he thinks it has gotten bigger since he got that shot. The sores on the back of his head on one side seems to be getting better. The area on the back of his head isn't as swelled as it was last night and he doesn't have a fever.

    Everyone here has been so kind and inspirational through all of this and I'm so thankful to have found such a wonderful group of people.

    Donna

    Pain
    the Neulasta shot may be responsible for a lot of his pain. I did OK with it (just mild backache, I think), but some folks become very ill and have pain in their joints and bones.

    As for the stomach, mouth and throat being in a lot of pain - I took chemo similar to the drugs your husband is on (I had taxotere, 5FU and cisplatin). During my first round of chemo, I developed big, hard pains that moved from the back of my throat down. I assumed the throat was from the chemo working on the areas fried by my tonsillectomy - when it hit my chest area, I was afraid I may be having a heart attack. I have a high pain threshold,and these pains were fierce. My doc explained it was from the chemo destroying cells in my GI tract. It was short-lived, and I didn't get the pains in any other rounds of chemo.

    Please make sure he's taking his anti nausea meds on schedule. this will help fight any nausea the pain meds may bring. Ask the docs for liquid pain meds - it makes a huge difference - and as I'm sure you already know - pain makes everything harder. I know that many people will tell you chemo effects, like rads effects, are cumulative, and it gets harder as you go. I must say taht for me, my first round of chemo was the most difficult for me. Hope things ease up for you guys soon. Please let your docs know about his discomfort as soon as it crops up; they really can "nip it in the bud" a lot of the time.
  • Lelia
    Lelia Member Posts: 98
    #6
    Hi Donna
    I'm so sorry to hear of the pain and problems. Is he scheduled for the PEG? It doesn't sound like he's able to take fluids by mouth, and dehydration exacerbates many symptoms especially nausea. With nausea he won't be able to stay on his med schedule and then more/bigger problems crop up.

    At first it was hard for me to insist on a strict med schedule, I didn't want to wake my husband for meds and was reluctant to be the cause of any discomfort or annoyance. But I quickly learned I could interrupt sleep, get the meds in him, and he'd go right back to resting.

    Cancer is a beast and I find I'm able to summon a different kind of strength than I knew I had to battle it. I chart all meds and make sure we don't get behind; at first I know it annoyed him a little but things are SO much better, he appreciates my vigilance (most of the time, anyway!).

    I'm not familiar with your treatment plan so I'm not sure about the pre-rad head sores and will let others more knowledgeable weigh in on causes/solutions. One thing I did learn is that the magic mouthwash is almost always custom blended, look at your prescription to see what the doc may have added to the lidocaine formula. Many docs add benadryl and other compounds and you can talk to them about what formula is right for your husband. RadDoc's formula did not work well for us, for example, but OncoDoc replaced it eliminating the extra stuff and he did much better. Both chemo and radiation caused mouth/throat thrush in my patient on top of the sores, fluconazole will dispatch it quickly and I added a probiotic when chemo concluded, it's been a big help in several ways. For pain, a patch helped us a lot, eliminating the need to swallow pills and providing regulated pain management 24/7.

    For cancer patients, sleep is most often a healing activity not an indication something is wrong. My husband slept for what seemed like three months solid, it's what he needed and I adjusted my perceptions to the New Normal.

    I strongly support use of the PEG, we could have eliminated a lot of grief if we hadn't delayed for so long. I hope things get better for you both, please post updates when you're able.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #7
    Hi Donna

    If I remember I had sores on the head but very few, I used an Aloe Vera gel as my face was so burnt I looked like a French fry.

    Wishing you the best
    Hondo
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #8
    depressed63 said:

    Thanks Kent
    My husband has gone downhill and the radiation hasn't even started yet. He has been very ill since he got the Naulasta shot Tuesday. He's only had one chemo treatment with the 5FU for five days with mild throat and mouth sores. Now he's in so much pain that he wants the stomach peg and last week he refused to even consider it until radiation started.

    His throat, mouth, and stomach is in a lot of pain. He can't even get ensure down and his throat hurts to bad to talk or swallow. We see the oncologist nurse tomorrow. I hope they take blood and I hope they can help us with these symptoms because the magic mouth wash is not helping. They prescribed vicodin but he can't swallow it and he's taken it before his cancer and he said even if he could get it down it would make his stomach even worse. He thought the tumor was getting smaller and the treatment was working. I'm not sure if it was but if his mind thinks that way then that must be a positive thing. Now he thinks it has gotten bigger since he got that shot. The sores on the back of his head on one side seems to be getting better. The area on the back of his head isn't as swelled as it was last night and he doesn't have a fever.

    Everyone here has been so kind and inspirational through all of this and I'm so thankful to have found such a wonderful group of people.

    Donna

    Cannot swallow vicodin
    Donna, I could not swallow pills either, still cannot. He should still have pain management through liquid pain meds, or a pain patch, or lollipops, etc. Need to stay on top and ahead of pain. The pain alone will sap your strength and impede treatment and healing. My doctors really did try to manage my pain.

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