How to make Thanksgiving livable

Alandon1
Alandon1 Member Posts: 17
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

3 days of radiation left. Last one Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Last chemo cisplatin will be decided on on Wednesday and given on Friday if he is able. Not eating. Barely doing 4 cans of tube feeding per day. my husband fee absolutely awful. How can I help him?

Comments

  • Clon
    Clon Member Posts: 20
    #2
    Almost over

    I am glad your husband is almost through with his treatment.  Unfortunately, the side effects will continue to get worse even after he is done.  The radiotion will continue to cook him for a few weeks so the mucusitis and pain take a while to go away.  Let him know it is all temporary and it will get better, even if it is just a little each day.  One day he will look back and realize how far he has come.

    I have been out of treatment for just over two years now.  I still have a little trouble eating and my thryoid is toast, but I am back working full time and enjoying every day to the fullest.  My motto is, "There are no bad days".  There were days I wondered if I would survive all the abuse the radiation and chemo did to my body, but now it is just a distant memory and I am glad I have a full life ahead of me.

    Tell your husband Happy Thanksgiving for me, and remind him that once he recovers from this he has many more years of turkey anead of him.  

    Charlie

  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #3
    get him involved in the meal

    Sounds pretty stupid I know but it is one of my most memmorable moments. I was probably around the same point in treatment and had some family over for Thanksgiving.  My wife is Italian and had made some meatballs. In the blender it went with some broth and then thru that damn tube. Yes I put a meatball thru the tube and it somehow made me feel normal to be part of the celebration. You don't have to get that drastic but if possible try and be part of a Thanksgiving event and get him involved somehow with the meal. I felt like I had conquered the world after that!

  • Alandon1
    Alandon1 Member Posts: 17
    #4
    ratface said:

    get him involved in the meal

    Sounds pretty stupid I know but it is one of my most memmorable moments. I was probably around the same point in treatment and had some family over for Thanksgiving.  My wife is Italian and had made some meatballs. In the blender it went with some broth and then thru that damn tube. Yes I put a meatball thru the tube and it somehow made me feel normal to be part of the celebration. You don't have to get that drastic but if possible try and be part of a Thanksgiving event and get him involved somehow with the meal. I felt like I had conquered the world after that!

    That is awesome!! I'll try it

    That is awesome!! I'll try it 

  • Alandon1
    Alandon1 Member Posts: 17
    #5
    Clon said:

    Almost over

    I am glad your husband is almost through with his treatment.  Unfortunately, the side effects will continue to get worse even after he is done.  The radiotion will continue to cook him for a few weeks so the mucusitis and pain take a while to go away.  Let him know it is all temporary and it will get better, even if it is just a little each day.  One day he will look back and realize how far he has come.

    I have been out of treatment for just over two years now.  I still have a little trouble eating and my thryoid is toast, but I am back working full time and enjoying every day to the fullest.  My motto is, "There are no bad days".  There were days I wondered if I would survive all the abuse the radiation and chemo did to my body, but now it is just a distant memory and I am glad I have a full life ahead of me.

    Tell your husband Happy Thanksgiving for me, and remind him that once he recovers from this he has many more years of turkey anead of him.  

    Charlie

    Thanks for the realistic

    Thanks for the realistic support. Will focus on any positive thing we can find. 

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,482 Member
    #6
    Count your Blessings

    Count them one by one. Sometimes we feel down and overlook what we have. I'll admit I have been down many times as this dealing with cancer and life itself gives us some tough times too. But we fight and pray our way through it somehow and get going again. I give all the credit to God because it certainly wasn't my strength that kept me going. I was where your husband is in 2013 but not Thanksgiving. On a feeding tube for 4 or 5 months but then slowly started eating again. He will get there too. For If we have a place to live and clothes and food, we have blessings. You still have each other, what a blessing. Help your husband be as comfortable as possible over the holiday and enjoy the time with friends as he is able. Have people over for short visits maybe. Always keep in mind you are headed into recovery soon and will be improving. It is a slow process measured in weeks and months not days and weeks so be patient. And look forward to one year from now-next Thanksgiving will be the best-God Bless-Prayers Your way-Russ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fMjgS4vu4o

  • Alandon1
    Alandon1 Member Posts: 17
    #7
    wbcgaruss said:

    Count your Blessings

    Count them one by one. Sometimes we feel down and overlook what we have. I'll admit I have been down many times as this dealing with cancer and life itself gives us some tough times too. But we fight and pray our way through it somehow and get going again. I give all the credit to God because it certainly wasn't my strength that kept me going. I was where your husband is in 2013 but not Thanksgiving. On a feeding tube for 4 or 5 months but then slowly started eating again. He will get there too. For If we have a place to live and clothes and food, we have blessings. You still have each other, what a blessing. Help your husband be as comfortable as possible over the holiday and enjoy the time with friends as he is able. Have people over for short visits maybe. Always keep in mind you are headed into recovery soon and will be improving. It is a slow process measured in weeks and months not days and weeks so be patient. And look forward to one year from now-next Thanksgiving will be the best-God Bless-Prayers Your way-Russ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fMjgS4vu4o

    Thank you very much for your

    Thank you very much for your support. 

  • motorcycleguy
    motorcycleguy Member Posts: 483 Member
    #8
    Happy Thanksgiving

    If your husband is finishing treatment, he should start feeling a little better every day, soon!

    It's tough, and it seems to take forever - but I've only been finished for about 5 months, and the difference in that time is amazing!

    He's with his famiy for Thanksgiving - remind him to give thanks for that blessing....

    I'm sending a prayer and good thoughts for your recovery.

     

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