Treatment is done!!!
Husker Fan
Member Posts: 65
Thank you everyone for all of your help and encouragement. After the Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS), neck dissection, and 30 radiation treatments, I am sitting back and waiting for the radiation to finish its work. Today was my last radiation treatment.
The biggest decision of the day was, keep the mask, or let them throw it out! I kept it! Not sure why, but it does create a lot of conversation.
Once again, THANK YOU EVERYONE! You all made it easier!
David
The biggest decision of the day was, keep the mask, or let them throw it out! I kept it! Not sure why, but it does create a lot of conversation.
Once again, THANK YOU EVERYONE! You all made it easier!
David
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Comments
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YAY!
Congrats. It is always a relief to know that they are no longer zapping you. I hope that you will do well through these next few weeks and then you heal quickly.0 -
I have this to say about that
GBR!0 -
What a great feeling...
Thank you everyone,
It is a big weight off the chest! This morning I am just chilling.
I had my wife lay down on the floor and put the mask on tight against her face... let's just say she "asked" for me to quit holding it down tight and get it off. LOL
The throat has gotten really sore, but I did celebrate last night with some really juicy meatloaf, runny mashed potatoes, cream of corn, and really soft (not completely done) brownies. Oh yeah, I took some codine an hour before! mmmm
I know a lot of people can't eat anything solid, and I debated on telling that part, but wanted to let people going into this know, that not everyone is the same, not every treatment is the same, and some may still be able to eat, you just need to adjust the types of food. (By the way, that was the first meat I had had in weeks). For the record, my saliva, taste, and smell are gone, but I could remember the taste and smell as it was going down, followed by a lot of water.
Again, thank you everyone for all the support and kind words. Every day while under the mask, I prayed and thanked God for the technology, professionals, family, friends and especially all of the CSN friends. It was amazing how quick each treatment went while praying.
Have a great day,
David0 -
nice mask
Like that nice funky green color. Andy kept his, as well. It was just plain white...think yours is definitely more stylish!
Congrats and keep up all that good eating. No peg tube for you? WOW0 -
Bug Zapper
Congratulations, David on being done with the giant bug zapper. I remember celebrating that day about a year and a half ago. It sure felt good to be done. I kept my mask and I still have it. I guess I keep it as kind of a badge of courage. I certainly understand the people who want to just get rid of it also, or maybe blow it up with a shotgun. Every time I got on that table, I felt like an ant going underneath a magnifying glass in the sunshine. Not that I ever did that when I was a little tyke, mind you. Hopefully, you won't be cooking much longer and picture this experience as cooking all of the bad stuff out of you.
Roger0 -
no optionfisrpotpe said:Wow
Finishing and celebrating treatments ending by eating a meal you described is a huge WOW! You are the first I have heard to do so.
Congrats! so happy for you and your wife.
johnvg
Congrats on finishing. The techs did not offer Jim the mask. I don't think he would have kept it anyway.
Thanking God for your smooth treatment and the ability to eat right after.
Debbie0 -
Mask
I took mine home to show my wife then I promptly placed it the garbage. I hope to never see a need for another one. I finished my rads last Friday and the side effects are worse now although the mouth sores do seem to be going away. I guess I wasn't paying attention when I was told the rads will last for a couple of weeks after treatment. Glad to hear that you were able eat something close to a meal and real meat something I have yet to do. I am going to start with soups, I can't stand anymore Ensure.
Regards,
John0 -
Soupjtl said:Mask
I took mine home to show my wife then I promptly placed it the garbage. I hope to never see a need for another one. I finished my rads last Friday and the side effects are worse now although the mouth sores do seem to be going away. I guess I wasn't paying attention when I was told the rads will last for a couple of weeks after treatment. Glad to hear that you were able eat something close to a meal and real meat something I have yet to do. I am going to start with soups, I can't stand anymore Ensure.
Regards,
John
Well so much for the soup. Apparently my mouth is worse than I thought and I am back to the Ensure. I wonder if the salt is causing the burning pain?
John0 -
jtljtl said:Soup
Well so much for the soup. Apparently my mouth is worse than I thought and I am back to the Ensure. I wonder if the salt is causing the burning pain?
John
It definitely could be the salt. My tongue still cannot tolerate it, and I'm 2.5 years out. Packaged foods, canned or boxed foods and soups don't work for me. Burns If I use canned stock, I use low sodium, and usually cut with water. I couldn't even tolerate that, until recently. When I was out of treatment, when I first started to eat, everything tasted salty to me also. After a life time of not really liking sweet things, I found myself wanting to eat them, because I actually tasted half way decent.0 -
Saltsweetblood22 said:jtl
It definitely could be the salt. My tongue still cannot tolerate it, and I'm 2.5 years out. Packaged foods, canned or boxed foods and soups don't work for me. Burns If I use canned stock, I use low sodium, and usually cut with water. I couldn't even tolerate that, until recently. When I was out of treatment, when I first started to eat, everything tasted salty to me also. After a life time of not really liking sweet things, I found myself wanting to eat them, because I actually tasted half way decent.
I think you are right about the salt and the fact that all prepared foods have alot. I think I will need to make some homemade vegetable soup with sodium free broth. I may need to rely on my Ensure for calories. I think I need some fresh nutrients to supplement the Ensure. Have you had any issues with orange juice and mouth sores.0 -
Thanks Everyone...
Thank you everyone,
I will have to admit though, for some reason this afternoon, I had to break out the narcotics! The burn apparently made a breakthrough and wow, things are sore. The tongue has also swollen some. Hand signals and very low whispers are the mode of communication this evening.
Once again, thank you and my prayers are with all of you.
David0 -
Congradulations
Finishing treatment is a major accomplishment. I kept my mask. My dog is deathly afraid of the mask; smart dog. I view my mask as a symbol of accomplishment. Got thru that one all right. Take it easy and enjoy. Rick0 -
Yes, not just orange juice,jtl said:Salt
I think you are right about the salt and the fact that all prepared foods have alot. I think I will need to make some homemade vegetable soup with sodium free broth. I may need to rely on my Ensure for calories. I think I need some fresh nutrients to supplement the Ensure. Have you had any issues with orange juice and mouth sores.
Yes, not just orange juice, but any acidic fruit. Tomatoes are still bad for me. I don't really eat tomato sauce. When I do, I add tons of cream or dairy to counter act the acid. For orange juice, I only used fresh oranges either in my juicer or health master. I always put a heaping tsp of Glutamine powder in my juice or smoothies. I also do the heaping tsp in a cup of water and swish and swallow. I think it really helps. It was a long time before I could do fruit. I wish I knew about and had gotten the Glutamine sooner.
For a while, I lived on Bolthouse Farms protein drinks mixed with Häagen Däzs Vanilla ice cream. I liked the Hazelnut, Chai, Mocha Cappucino, and for the fruit ones, I liked the Berry Goodness, Strawberry Banana, and the Blueberry. This is when I was only like 87 lbs. Those fruit drinks with the ice cream was the only way I seemed to be able to tolerate any 'fruit'.
Something like a purée of sweet potato or carrot soup might be nice, (I like to cook it with tiny red or yellow lentils for extra nutrition and fibre) and it's easy enough to make. You can add some cream to boost up the calories if you need to. Broccoli soup is easy too. Gordon Ramsay has a version that is just broccoli and water, I think. Very few ingredients and it's good, easy and healthy. I have broccoli to use up for dinner.0 -
Question and congrats!
I am about 6 weeks behind you. I also had the robotic surgery and neck dissection (both sides) in St. Louis. Only had one involved lymph node out of 32. I am curious if you had radiation to the primary site and the neck area, or only to the neck area. My surgeon and oncologist disagree as to how many sites to radiate, which is causing my radiation start date to be delayed. Congrats to you...I know you must be thrilled that you are done.0
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