Radiation

LiseA,

Staying active and mobile is always good.  Whether you feel good enough to participate in pre-treatment activities is unknown until you get there.

Eating healthy during treatments is very desirable, but what your body demands during treatments are often “the best you can do”.

Somehow the cancer found a way in to your body and you might want to choose the tried and true most successful methods of eradication.

Choices are many and treatments can be brutal, but I wish you only the best.

Matt

My husband wasn't one to work out, although he did like to hike, being a geologist. But he did work through all of his cancer treatment and only took a week off after the treatment was all done. His docs said he was perfectly healthy except for the stage 1 cancer. Go figure. As far as eating, he was told to eat anything he could. The dietician even told him to blend a piece of cheesecake to make a milkshake. So anything you can eat is good. It is a matter of survival. Now 4 months later, he is back to his usual diet- veggies, fruits, meat, coffee, ice cream, anything he wants. You do what you have to do to get through. Staying active to keep your mind on something else is always a good idea though. Best of luck.

I agree with Matt.  I also would do surgery first, then chemo and rads. Yes, this is the second roughest treatment to go through. If you find you need surgery later, and some have, having it after radiation is so much harder due to the damage from radiation. I would want to go as aggressive as you can to rid yourself, you are fighting for your life. Some have had much success with even still working and exercising through the radiation. Others have had the tar knocked out of them. Trying to wet "Healthy" is good. You do know that bland junk in the bottle [jevity] is healthy, just is not that good to taste.

Many seem happy that it is HPV, and it does respond very good to chemo and radiation. It also has a much higher rate of returning. Sorry, I am not trying to be kinda negative, But I am just giving facts and what we have seen here. Many have had it return. Most will advise going with the tumor board comes up with as they do see and treat this all the time. If they say they don't recommend surgery and you have complete faith in them and feel they have explained everything to your satisfaction, go with it.

I do wish you all the best in your decision.

Bill

LiseA said:

You are another Lisa?  That's

You are another Lisa?  That's great :-).  I hope you get to feeling better soon.  I'm trying to educate myself as much as I can, and make a list of potential things I could try.  How is the fatigue?  Any ease?  What about your mouth? Sores or pain?  I can't wait to say I am done. Eating as much as I can, walking daily, listening to music, trying to enjoy life, and going to see Jersey Boys Saturday. Might as well do as much as I can before I go off to war!  A wonderful soldier friend told me this is like war, so arm myself and make sure I come back a hero, lol 

Me again.  My diagnosis, SCC Left Tonsil mass Stage 3.  Radiation 5xwk for 7 wks.  Chemo (Taxol/Carboplatin) 1xwk for 6 wks. No surgery.  Treatment was extremely tough and painful. I so wish I would have found this forum before or during my treatment.  So much information, 100% more than I got from my Doctors.  Everyone is so informative and supportive.  So glad you found this group before you startEd.  Will help you allot.  My mouth sores/Mucusosis started towards the end of 2nd wk.  It was extremely painful, had to take major pain relievers that barely relieved the pain.  Should have started the MuGuard from the beginning, may have helped more but did use it from 2nd wk on.  Salagen for saliva.  All of the Oral gel and Biotine products.  Baking soda/water rinse.  Salt water makes me sick.  Magic Mouthwash and Mylanta rinses. Lucky, never had nausea (even with drinking milk).  As for fatigue, I did not get allot of sleep due to the mouth but tried whenever I could.  Lucky again, I was tired but not "bone weary".  I did not work, just read, watched movies, colored ( excellent for distraction from pain) brain puzzels.  Had to have a PEG tube put in the 3rd wk.  Could not even drink water by than, mouth and throat was just too painful. Could not talk.   All nutrition was through my feeding tube.  I still have my tube but use my mouth to eat/drink most of the time now. Very important.....the skin around your throat will get a bad sunburn from the radiation.  I used Gold Bond Ultimate Healing with 7 Moisturizers, 100%Aloe Gel, and SSD 1% Silver Sulfadiazine Cream.  My routine was:  NO creams on before treatment.  After treatment, Aloe Gel (kept it in the refrigerator) than the Gold Bond. Whenever my skin on my neck and face felt the least bit dry, on with the cream.  When my neck started getting really red and ready to blister I applied the Silver Sulfadiazine cream to the area every night till dead skin sought off and applied lots of Gold Bond and aloe to keep it moist. Ask the Radiologists Nurse for help with this.  I was very lucky again that my neck did way better than the Doctors imagined. Since my mouth inside was a painful mess, I tried not to have the outside match.  I did have 1wk off of treatment in the 4th wk due to mouth/pain meds situation.  If this hampered my outcome I do know, but I do know if I would not had the break, I may not have finished.  So, that was my journey through treatment.  Each and everyone's is different.

For skin, my husband used aquaphor. Bought a big tub of it. He put it on everyday right after his radiation treatments and again before bed. Twice a day on weekends too. His doc and nurses were so impressed with how well his skin fared. And he is a pale, blonde haired guy too. He never had weeping skin, blisters or anything. Just mild redness. I would try the aquaphor for sure. It was a lifesaver for him!

My husband is 4 weeks post treatment. He is still using the feeding tube for at least 1000 calories/day and swallowing 700 or 800 by mouth. Anyone have experience with keeping the feeding tube beyond 4 weeks? He can swallow but still experiencing pain. He was treated for base of tongue cancer. Thanks for any input.