Week seven complete and so is treatment!

jeepman
jeepman Member Posts: 109
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hello all,

I haven't been posting but every few weeks during treatment. I am happy to report that treatment is done now and I am working through recovery. I did end up with a feeding tube....just lost too much weight and need the tube to bounce back.

I won't say that it was a cake walk, but VERY doable. I did't experience mouth sores, thrush, etc. My biggest issue was weight loss due to loss of sense of taste/appetite, and of course nausea.

All in all, I had 6 chemo infusions, 35 rads and a tonsillectomy/BOT excission. Elsa and I are just waiting on a clean scan, which we beleive the lord will bless me with. Just sitting around the house and not haveing to go to the cancer hospital everyday is so much nicer. I am walking a little bit already, getting 3000 calories a day via the tube and drinking lots of cold water to maintain swallowing function.

Thanks to so many of you guys that we huge sources of inspiration to us and gave us the motivation to continue on. We will post from time to time to let you all know how recovery goes and the scans, of course.

Mike

Comments

  • adventurebob
    adventurebob Member Posts: 691
    #2
    !!!
    Congratulations Mike. You did it! Now to get you back out on the trails. Keep up the ****-kicking.

    AB
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    adventurebob said:

    !!!
    Congratulations Mike. You did it! Now to get you back out on the trails. Keep up the ****-kicking.

    AB

    Good to hear from you.
    Mike, so glad you are done! I hope that you will recover quickly.

    Blessings, and best wishes to you, and Elsa.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #4
    Hi Mike
    I am glad to hear things are going well for you my friend, keep strong and keep believing

    Hondo
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #5
    Knew you could do it..
    Even for an Arny guy, LOL.....

    Just teasing, glad that you made it through with minimal damage, PET should come clean in a few months.

    It's really different at first when you are the center of attention everyday for the entire trip, and now you don't have anywhere to go....

    Enjoy your peace and do what you can when you can...it can be a little slow at first but comes back pretty good in some instances.

    I lost all taste and saliva for severa months, but now two years out, I have around 90 95% of both back...

    Best,
    John
  • KareGiver
    KareGiver Member Posts: 301 Member
    #6
    Skiffin16 said:

    Knew you could do it..
    Even for an Arny guy, LOL.....

    Just teasing, glad that you made it through with minimal damage, PET should come clean in a few months.

    It's really different at first when you are the center of attention everyday for the entire trip, and now you don't have anywhere to go....

    Enjoy your peace and do what you can when you can...it can be a little slow at first but comes back pretty good in some instances.

    I lost all taste and saliva for severa months, but now two years out, I have around 90 95% of both back...

    Best,
    John

    Great news!
    So glad you are finished and waiting for those magic words!
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #7
    Mike
    Congratulations. Glad to hear the PEG did it's job for you, and you're doing so well.

    kcass
  • Jimbo55
    Jimbo55 Member Posts: 590 Member
    #8
    Great News Mike
    So glad to hear you made it through without too much trouble. Yes it sure is a nice feeling not to have to go for treatment each and every day. Congrats and looking forward to hear about your clean scans in the coming days. Cheers.

    Jimbo
  • fisrpotpe
    fisrpotpe Member Posts: 1,349 Member
    #9
    No Hill for Climber
    You certainly report your treatment was no hill for a climber like you. Great to hear it went so well. Now we are excited to hear you have meet NED.

    Congrats on achieving this goal.

    John
  • arndog64
    arndog64 Member Posts: 537
    #10
    fisrpotpe said:

    No Hill for Climber
    You certainly report your treatment was no hill for a climber like you. Great to hear it went so well. Now we are excited to hear you have meet NED.

    Congrats on achieving this goal.

    John

    That is great news. Now,
    That is great news. Now, it's time to heal. We go for our first post treatment Pet Scan on the 26th. I believe we will have a clean scan. My husband is 10 weeks out and he started to eat by mouth a week ago. He loves toaster strudel and pot pies. He said they are easy to eat. He even had a breakfast burrito yesterday, it had eggs, bacon and taters.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #11
    arndog64 said:

    That is great news. Now,
    That is great news. Now, it's time to heal. We go for our first post treatment Pet Scan on the 26th. I believe we will have a clean scan. My husband is 10 weeks out and he started to eat by mouth a week ago. He loves toaster strudel and pot pies. He said they are easy to eat. He even had a breakfast burrito yesterday, it had eggs, bacon and taters.

    Man....
    And here I sit and have to read this when I haven't eaten yet this morning.....

    You are just getting even with me for all of my teasing...I know it, admit it.

    Glad you guys are doing well....make sure you remind your husband frequently of all the drama he put you through and what you had to do to keep him on track and in line....

    Best,
    John
  • arndog64
    arndog64 Member Posts: 537
    #12
    Skiffin16 said:

    Man....
    And here I sit and have to read this when I haven't eaten yet this morning.....

    You are just getting even with me for all of my teasing...I know it, admit it.

    Glad you guys are doing well....make sure you remind your husband frequently of all the drama he put you through and what you had to do to keep him on track and in line....

    Best,
    John

    Already got that covered. He
    Already got that covered. He is taking me to New Orleans once he feels better and gets back to work. He has a big job in Brazil coming up and wants to make that trip. Hopefully he gets his strength back in time.
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #13
    arndog64 said:

    Already got that covered. He
    Already got that covered. He is taking me to New Orleans once he feels better and gets back to work. He has a big job in Brazil coming up and wants to make that trip. Hopefully he gets his strength back in time.

    Congrats!
    You made it! I am praying that you have a speedy recovery and a clear PET

    Blessings,
    Debbie
  • jeepman
    jeepman Member Posts: 109
    #14
    arndog64 said:

    That is great news. Now,
    That is great news. Now, it's time to heal. We go for our first post treatment Pet Scan on the 26th. I believe we will have a clean scan. My husband is 10 weeks out and he started to eat by mouth a week ago. He loves toaster strudel and pot pies. He said they are easy to eat. He even had a breakfast burrito yesterday, it had eggs, bacon and taters.

    Taste buds
    Your hubby is 10 weeks out now, is he able to taste anything yet? (other than metal)......I cannot wait to tear into a fat breakfast burrito.

    Blessings,

    Mike
  • jeepman
    jeepman Member Posts: 109
    #15
    arndog64 said:

    That is great news. Now,
    That is great news. Now, it's time to heal. We go for our first post treatment Pet Scan on the 26th. I believe we will have a clean scan. My husband is 10 weeks out and he started to eat by mouth a week ago. He loves toaster strudel and pot pies. He said they are easy to eat. He even had a breakfast burrito yesterday, it had eggs, bacon and taters.

    So when is he looking at
    So when is he looking at getting the tube out?

    Mike
  • jeepman
    jeepman Member Posts: 109
    #16
    Skiffin16 said:

    Knew you could do it..
    Even for an Arny guy, LOL.....

    Just teasing, glad that you made it through with minimal damage, PET should come clean in a few months.

    It's really different at first when you are the center of attention everyday for the entire trip, and now you don't have anywhere to go....

    Enjoy your peace and do what you can when you can...it can be a little slow at first but comes back pretty good in some instances.

    I lost all taste and saliva for severa months, but now two years out, I have around 90 95% of both back...

    Best,
    John

    John,
    How long did it take
    John,

    How long did it take to start getting your taste back? I HATE not being able to taste. My wife will chow down on a delicious plate of (pick your favorite food) and I just smell it and go plug in my PEG....I cant wait to bit into a fat breakfast burrito or a pizza and a cold beer.

    Don't know what you got til it's gone, you know?

    Blessings,

    Mike
  • jeepman
    jeepman Member Posts: 109
    #17
    adventurebob said:

    !!!
    Congratulations Mike. You did it! Now to get you back out on the trails. Keep up the ****-kicking.

    AB

    AB,
    You know the deal! I
    AB,

    You know the deal! I can't wait to get back out on the Smoky Mountains......

    Mike
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #18
    jeepman said:

    John,
    How long did it take
    John,

    How long did it take to start getting your taste back? I HATE not being able to taste. My wife will chow down on a delicious plate of (pick your favorite food) and I just smell it and go plug in my PEG....I cant wait to bit into a fat breakfast burrito or a pizza and a cold beer.

    Don't know what you got til it's gone, you know?

    Blessings,

    Mike

    Taste
    It's slow and evolving like everything...

    One of the first meals that I remember eating was actually when HONDO was in town. Probably a few months after treatment it was a creamy seafood shrimp pasta.

    Burger King double cheeseburgers was another that was really good to me.

    Most everything took a sip of water each bite. It was a lot of trial and error, somethings were OK some were not, I'd try those again a few months later.

    Hardly anything tasted as good as before, but I coud start tasting some flavors within a month or so. A lot of those would taste good for the first few bites, then it would go away.

    a lot of meats took a long time, and some never have tasted quite as good as before...but they do taste good and its definitely better than the alternative.

    Eventually I moved away from having to carry a bottle of water with me every where.

    You'll get there, just be persistant and try different things.

    I ate at a lot of buffets after treatment because they offered a large variety of foods to try.

    Thoughts and prayers with you brother....
    John
  • Rubytoos
    Rubytoos Member Posts: 45
    #19
    Congratulations!
    Here's
    Congratulations!

    Here's wishing you a full comeback, taste buds and all!

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