My radiation journey - Week 2

..thats when the first two bites taste like food, and the rest tastes like, well....no taste just texture.  Go to the health food store and pick up some L-Glutamine powder to mix with water.  If you're already swishing with the salt/soda mix, good....now you can swish and swallow the L-Glutamine....it can really help with the muscositis....and it might help ease the throat pain a little.  Also, when I was getting treatment they had some new stuff on the market called MuGard....it's a mouth sore preventative.  A bunch of us used it, and most of us slid through rads without sores.  Maybe ask about it???

You're 1/3 done.....hang in there!!!

p

Eat eat eat even if it gets hard eat. I reached the end of the second and had a tough time. Also had a long drive with traffic in India. 

Once you slow down your intake the radiation impact seems harder. I found very soft oatmeal and watery rice with eggs and tomato helped. I have a week left of treatment and I'm still eating. 

I'm also asking that question. How did I get this?

Take care.

You are doing very good. You have the right attitude to get through this which really helps.  Never having Radiation or chemo, even though the doctors explained it at first as that was what they did consider, but lungs were way too bad to go that route so just surgery was my only choice. You might want to check the Superthread as I believe it has some suggestions on mouth sores. 

Many never know the why they got cancer. There is no real reason other than you just did. I know why I did, or at least pretty sure. I was a smoker which they say smoking/tobacco is #1, Heavy drinking is #2, and HPV+ is #3, Acid reflex comes in about #4 and it is throat down to the esophagus, often we hear about GURD and almost nothing LPR which is the same basically, but goes higher up to the Larynx and often you never get heartburn but can taste it in the back of the throat and often have silent aspiration which is what I also had with the LPR. Now #5 is the one many get, and there is no known reason as to the why.

My insurance assigned a case manager nurse to me so to help make sure I got everything I need and it is all in the network so we both save money.  She often asked me that I never went through the "Why Me" stage. I said I smoked and it really doesn't matter as to why. It only matters is what am I going to do to beat this. Just before my surgery they upped it to T4; N2; M0 stage 4 and the ACS shows that for the supraglottic which mine was down to 34% for five years. It did get better and I came out with T3; N0; M0 stage 3. which is 53% for the five year mark. Kinda funny that six months after I had my surgery the ACS lowered the odds down to 53% and was much more specific as where it was. I had found a different site and liked it much better and it added for being contained, the primary site is known, not in lymph glands and didn't metastasize, and that started at 63%, [it was more general and was just for all laryngeal cancer] and added up to around  75% was my guess so I went with those. You really can't go by what they write about the odds as it covers so many persons and so many variables it just isn't that accurate.  So in all reality mine are most likely above 80%. When they removed my larynx and the tumor was just above my vocal cords they got it and everything even near it. They just won't say cured until 5 years is up. All I get is NED which is great, but it is gone when I left the surgery room.

Now you may, or may not hit a rough time during your treatment. Everyone is different and having such a positive attitude does really help. Only 5 thought I would make it, and we had 250 at work and two believed me when I said I would be back at work in 10 weeks. My job was talking and they just took my vocal cords. I had no doubts I would be back, and I was in 10 weeks and talking as well.  You just have to believe and give it your all.  Keep up the updates and just one day at a time, you are doing great, be proud of yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL-ZuyhSMEM

Bill

Steven,

Keep up the good attitude. We also don't know why my husband got tongue cancer, but he is 4 months out of treatment and doing great. Ate BBQ chicken and steak off the grill tonight for dinner. Treatment was rough, but like you, he was young (only 40) and healthy at time of diagnosis. And other than the cancer, he stayed healthy through chemo and rads. His labs were good every week, and he made it through. Each day is a day closer to being done. Don't count the days you still have to go. Count the days you have completed. We printed out a calendar and crossed each day off. Soon you will see that calendar fill up with red X's on the days, and you will ring that bell and be done. I know you can do this. We are all pulling for you!

Steve,

I am riding right behind you as I do my treatment. You're my inspiration.  

Steve, how are you doing?

Good to hear from you. Will go and read your comments on week three.   I have only finished four treatments since it was a short week, so no symptoms yet. I went out and bought myself some European dark chocolate the other day, and gelato.

 Figured I still have time to enjoy them, so why the heck not!  Been exercising, going to the museums here in Houston, and making this time into a mini vacation before the **** hits the fan, lol