Energy level

Two Weeks Ago...
In reality, he's still cooking from the rads, and probably will be for a few more weeks.. Right now his body is using any excess energy for recovery.

And he's normal, right where he should be more than likely...

Give hom a few more weeks of rest. But it never hurts to get out a little and get some vitamin D...the sunshine will do him good (not too much direct though without protection)...but walking and getting out a bit is always good.

Make sure he's getting enough hydration and calorie intake also though...

Best,
John

Skiffin16 said:

Two Weeks Ago...
In reality, he's still cooking from the rads, and probably will be for a few more weeks.. Right now his body is using any excess energy for recovery.

And he's normal, right where he should be more than likely...

Give hom a few more weeks of rest. But it never hurts to get out a little and get some vitamin D...the sunshine will do him good (not too much direct though without protection)...but walking and getting out a bit is always good.

Make sure he's getting enough hydration and calorie intake also though...

Best,
John

Still Cooking
Agree with John, he is not done just yet. If it continues for more then a months or so you might want to get his Thyroid checked. Vitamin are always a good choice, D and B6, B 12 and Zinc is what I do

Hondo

Hi olybee
This was normal for my dad. We are six weeks out from rads and though energy is coming back, it is a slow recovery. Some days are good and others not so much. I would recommend pushing to keep him up long enough to eat and hydrate though!
Best wishes for healing,
Toni

Sounds familiar
2 weeks isn't much time. Makes me tired just thinking about where I was at 2 weeks. Sleeping is apparently what he needs right now. As said; hydration and calories are still important so you're probably gonna have to wake him up once in awhile and get some stuff in him. Exercise is always good but his body probably knows best what he needs right now. You can probably expect this for a week or 2 more. It'll get better.

AB

Hondo said:

Hi John

I was so depleted after treatment the second time I had to go on a full rang of Vitamins and my D was also extremely low. You are right sunshine it a great way to get your D but it is always a good idea to have it checked as it will make you feel so very weak you can't get out of bed as in my case.

Hondo

Potassium
Potassium was the one I had to have additionally for 10 days....got kind of low during the chemo days.

JG

luv4lacrosse said:

SLEEPING
I too slept most of the day away up to 2 months post radiation. Supplements helped me as well as forcing myself to go outside and walk or walk on my treadmill at home. I found that even walking once around my block at home added a huge amount of energy to my day.

I am 9 months post treatment now and go to the gym 4-5 days a week and feel great. The only difference with me at the gym currently is that I am not very strong, but I can do allot of sets and reps with the weights.

In short, when he needs to sleep or just falls asleep, let him do it for now as sleeping is part of the healing process. press him to get some type of activity, even if it means only sitting outside on a nice day, VS vegging on the couch.

Best!!

Mike

They are not kidding when
They are not kidding when they say the 2 months post treatment are the worst. My husband was not well at all. He made it and is doing great. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

olybee said:

Thanks for all the
Thanks for all the supporting comments. I did start him on Vitamin D supplement a while ago, and we're finally having some sun in the Pacific NW, so I'll have to try to get him to go out for little breathers on the deck. I was worried about his thyroid, because he had half of it removed five years ago, but we had that tested and they said it was good. He hasn't had any other blood work yet, but I guess that's something that will come soon.
Thanks again - you guys are great and a wealth of info. I'm so glad I have somewhere to turn to ask Qs

Sun
Doug was told not to get any sun where he'd had radiation (neck, upper back, lower face) so he wears sunscreen, a hat and a thin scarf when outside. If you're looking to get some beneficial results from the sun, I'd suggest sitting under partial shade with his legs out in the sun - you get sun on a substantial part of your body that way, and keep it away from the hot spots.

Nutrition is very important - I was using an on-line calorie counting program to keep track of Doug's vitamin/mineral intake and found that it was very hard to get enough potassium into him (he couldn't eat/drink bananas - he mostly got it from mashed potatoes, carrot/tomato soup and the despised Boost).

Glad you're getting some sun there - we're getting some welcome relief from the heat on our coast. . .

Glenna M said:

Walking
When I was going through treatment the radiation oncologist's nurse told me to make sure I got outside for 15 minutes each day. She told me to walk for these 15 minutes each day and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

Some days it seemed impossible but I felt much better after each short walk.

Don't force it but do try to encourage him to get outside.

Glenna

Energy and Recovery
I hope that DennisK7BV doesn't mind but I am sort of reposting his post from the other day on a BOT thread. His blog is really good and not unlike any of ours but he says in there that his doctors told him that he would spend a day recovering for every day he spent getting treated.

That sounds about right. Seven weeks down, seven weeks up for many people. I was lucky, more treatment (nine weeks not counting the tonsillectomy before and the neck dissection after) and less recovery but not by much. I was working and traveling overseas the month after treatment ended but it was nothing like normal. I was sick, tired, weak, befuddled, etc. and I was considered in good shape!

The other day when I saw him for a check-up our rad onc reminded us that the HNC treatment is the worst, far worse in comparison to other cancer treatments (which shall remain nameless so as not to cause arguments). Congratulations to us all for getting it through it. Doug

DennisK7BV
Posts: 1
Joined: Aug 2011

August 13, 2011 - 12:32am
My experience...hope it helps

I kept a blog through my entire base of the tongue throat cancer experience. I hope it might offer some help for you with your many many questions.

http://k7bvcancer.blogspot.com/

My best wishes,
Dennis