4 more days of radiation and last chemo was done last week

Laralyn said:

Congratulations!
You're almost there. It's a relief to be able to rest at home and stop going for radiation every day. All you can do at this point is take it easy, stay hydrated, get enough nutrition, and wait out the healing. It may feel like it's taking forever when you're in it, but I'm 7 weeks out of treatment and feeling SO much better than I did at the end.

You'll get through it and the other side will be great! :-)

Congrats Matt!
Happy to hear! I noticed small improvements right after I finished. If I recall, I only had 2 new issues in the early weeks following tx and those were good trade offs. My neck & lower face turned dark and peeled and then about week 3 my hair thinned. I did have a 3rd bout with thrush somewhere in there but meds helped within a day or two. But to get rid of the sores on lips week 1 and week 2 was awesome. Started finding my energy week 4, week 5 even better and week 6 loads of energy and no naps. I'm week 9 and haven't had to look back :-)Hope your "baking" period is an easy one.

Hang In There!
Getting to the end of treatment is great. Hubby finished last Thursday. They didnt lie to us -- it does get rougher after treatment. The throat gets sorer and the mucous gets thicker. Hubby is still in the each day a little worse phase of post-treatment. But as you can see from the helpful posts here, you will get to the other side. It's still a great feeling to be able to say "I finished my treatment!"

Prayers for healing.

Deb

I am right behind you, I
I am right behind you, I finish August 1st. My throat has been worse the past couple days. I am getting realy red on my neck area. Hoping you will breeze thru your next few weeks and start feeling better soon. I am so looking forward to sleeping in and not having to rush around. I am still trying to eat some, cream of wheat for breakfast and peaches for lunch today. Can't eat a lot of things but I find some things will go down.

Way to go Matt29!
Congrats on almost being DONE! We're rooting for you! Last week I had a 3 month follow up and in the waiting area a guy came out to a crowd of people who said "Surprise! We've come to congratulate you dad on your last day of treatment." It was really sweet.

So happy for you!
Matt,
I'm so happy you are almost there! I am 5 weeks this week and after reading all the previous posts you should know what to expect. I finished my erbitux a couple weeks before rads too so we are similar. My oncologist told me something which I will pass on to you. He said, "Billie these next couple of weeks will be just as tough if not tougher than what you've just endured. However it can all be done from your bed or recliner and no more trips to rads. Measure your improvement by weeks not days so that you don't get depressed"
I've made sure not to count the days just as he said. As I said it's almost 5 weeks for me now. Get ready for more soreness, children's liquid advil works wonders and goes thru your tube nicely . I like to take that during the day because it doesn't make my head weird and I save the good stuff for at night. You will most likely be very tired. Your sores in your mouth will be sure to remind you that they are still there in full force. Keep your lips moistened with something like aquaphor and as for your neck, it will get worse before better BUT it will get better rather quickly. Ask CivilMatt about the cream he used. The mucous in your throat will get thicker(sorry) but that too will get better in the the next couple of weeks.
Stay hydrated, Gatorade is great for calories and hydration. I ended up going 3 times a week for a few weeks for hydration and it helped a lot, don't be afraid to ask for that if you feel too nauseas or dry.
I'm a lot less tired now and both the sores and thrush are gone. My lips still get dry and it reminds me to up the Gatorade and aquaphor.
Good luck to you and ask anything on here. I've only been on here for a few weeks and already recieved so much help.
Take care of you!
Billie