Just started treatment - NEED ADVICE

He should have steroids for 3 days with chemo, phrochloperazine for nausea, and odansetron for nausea. (thats what I had)

For radiation, keep his neck creamed up whenever he's not being microwaved.

Good Luck!

My husband is 10 weeks post treatment.  He really stuggled with both nausea and then side effects from the drugs phrannie51 listed to treat the nausea.  I think you will find that everyone has a different repsonse to the chemo and so what we tell you worked for us might not work for you.  However, what I can say is that as the caregiver you absolutely must be very agressive in monitoring the side effects and intervening before they get difficult to control.  I will say in the beginning we did not repsond quickly enough and forcefully enough to the nausea and then ended up with unpleasant issues like losing 9lbs in 3 days, getting dehydrated and ending up in the ER and a litany of other issues I won't detail.  It is serious business is what I am trying to say.  There were times when my husband sadly just went through times when he did not have the physical energy and/or mental energy to deal with his symptoms without my support. Sometimes he was not even aware of symptoms he was having.  I kept records of everything and sometimes he simply could not recall what had happened accurately enough to report it to the medical team nor did he have the energy. For us it did get very hard but we got through it and you will too.  Bottom line maintaining hydration and nutrition was a constant and I mean constant struggle for him. Other sailed though treament with far fewer side effects.   We had open standing orders for fluids after each treatment and had to use those more and more as time went on.  The two main side effects he struggled with were constipation and drowsiness/mental decline (especially from Ativan).  There were others but those were two that about took him down because they made hydration and nutrition diffcult.  You will find your way through but speak up to the medical team about his side effects from treatment and any of the meds.  It can be a hard path, harder for some than others, but it is doable.  My husband has said numerous times that he would have died during with me advocating for him.  He had a difficult time during treatment but we are on the other side now.  You will get there too.  I am not trying to be negative or scare you but just make you aware that although it can be very hard and require a lot of support from you, you can get through it as a team.  We are having on going challenges after treatment but we are so grateful for the chance to beat this beast.  

my husband Larry just started treatment on Wednesday for (Oral Squamous cell carcinoma HPV 16 I believe its called) small tumor on base of tongue and 3 lymph nodes affected on right side of neck. he had his first round of chemo. He will start radiation on Wednesday after the 4th of july. He was very sick the day after and i jumped into action and got him back to the ocolgist office for IV fluids and stronger nausea meds. He is taking the Ativan and he is constipated and extremely tired. Can anyone help with recommendations for eating to keep energy levels up and helping with immun system and also help the constapation?

Your treatment team should have a protocol for you to follow for the constipation.  This became such a problem for my husband to the point it was interfering with hydration and nutrition that we made the decision to pay for a consult with our local GI doc. Best money we ever spent.  He changed what meds we were using for the constipation slightly and was much more aggresive in increasing the dosage of some of the meds because they were for temporary use.  The meds effect everyone differently but the Ativan caused my husband to be so sedated and mentally foggy that he was not awake and active enough to keep his intake adequate which caused a cascade of other issues.  They ended up changing my husband's pain protocol to put the use of Ativan down the line of meds so he only used it if other meds were not effective.   Just keep observing symtoms you see and ask for direction in how to modify if needed.