Diagnosis Complete (95%) - Chemo/Rad Starting Next Week - Yikes!

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Comments

  • jmermaid
    jmermaid Member Posts: 8 Member

    Thank you so much Russ. I'll look at these & do a search also.

  • JohnHeffernan
    JohnHeffernan Member Posts: 5 Member

    Okay I made it back to the forum.

    Thank you for the return comment. It makes a person feel really welcomed when your comments don't fall on deaf ears.

    I can't believe the challenges I have navigating forums, it's kind of embarrassing. After all I used to be a computer programmer for a metal fabrication shop running programs for a Lazer machine that cut metal and other materials. lol

    I'll ask some dumb question about navigation so if any one would like to help me with Forum Navigation for dummies it would be one less frustration to bear so thanx to all ahead of time.

    When I log on how do I get to "make a comment". Right know I just stumble along, click, click, click till I run across my comments. Then just add on. Question can everyone read my comments or just the head and neck cancer members. And are all my comments just viewed under the comment I started with wbcgaruss? Wait I'm thinking if I go straight to my profile page I just scroll down and find "My Comments" and just post away. I'll try this later right now I have to get off the web and find a way to relieve my throat challenge, EVERY TIME I SWALLOW, it feels like I have a piece of sandpaper is lodged in my throat. I try not to hack up this annoyance constantly (every 12 minutes) as I know this is just going to make it worse. Ran out of pain meds so going to try water salt and soda rinse. Hope this goes away soon, just have to focus on a routine. I now know that at any given point its routine, routine, routine a person has to follow to get through this all. Gotta go now before I drive myself crazy.

    Thanx to all agian

    Will post enjoyable moments I shared with others along the way latter as I figure out what the heck I'm doing lol.

    Awwgh gotta go Now. Until latter hang in there😏

  • Stephie75
    Stephie75 Member Posts: 185 Member

    Russ,

    This may be something that could be added to the Superthread. What are your thoughts on that? I still need to wok on some more broken links, but there can certainly be new ideas and links added along the the way.

    -Steph

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member

    Yes Steph, good idea, some alternative pain relief as opposed to the normal route usually taken. I found those links in response to Jeri having a problem with regular pain meds. I always try to find informative pages and valid information before I post them. I feel the first two are good valid information and the third one is from Cancer.net which I feel is a very reliable information source.

    Take care-God Bless-Russ

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member

    Sure John I try to comment back to people on here especially if no one else seems to be responding. It can be confusing if you feel like you are posting into a black hole. As far as making a comment, if you are reading a post go to the bottom of the page and there is a box there "Leave A Comment". You can also click on reply at the bottom of a post listing from someone you want to answer like I am doing here. If you mean to start a new topic at the top of the page on the right is a start new topic just click the plus mark and make your posting. Everyone can read the forum and comments but they cannot comment or post new topics unless they are registered members which is free and easy to sign up for. Your comments for a posting will be where you posted them. Also if you scroll down to the bottom of any page there are subjects to click on such as "About the Society", "ACS Privacy Information" and right beside that click on "CSN Help" it is a pretty complete guide to navigating around the web site and using the forum, expression pages, chat etiquette, etc, lots of good information. Hang in there with your throat and it will be getting better but be aware recovery from this is a slow process but you will feel much better after afterwhile.

    Wishing you the best-Take care-God Bless-Russ

  • Stephie75
    Stephie75 Member Posts: 185 Member

    Yes, agreed. Russ was a huge help to me after I was first diagnosed. Tips galore, and I was extremely prepared before I started radiation. I have 3 more days of radiation left after today! Russ has been here the entire time.

    I just have been sleeping most of the time now, and honestly I am so out of it, I don't make a good friend right now. I am like an animal hiding or something.

    -Steph

  • jmermaid
    jmermaid Member Posts: 8 Member

    Arnica, tumeric and ginger seem to the most mentioned in my search. Oh and belladonna. Not sure I'd want to try the belladonna as I know it as a deadly poison. I just came down with a full blown cold, not sure what to do. going to try & kick it by staying in bed but I'm supposed to get the feeding tube put in this thurs and start my treatment Feb. 2nd., I don't want to delay my treatment any, trying to get a hold of Dr's now. Crossed fingers, I can kick this cold in the butt.


    Many thanks to all of you for your support.


    Jeri

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member

    Well Jeri you got me curious so I looked up belladonna. Very interesting plant and is used in a lot of meds and is in the fluid the eye doctor dilates your eyes with. From what I see Jeri it is only deadly if you ingest the plant or berries directly.

    While it has been used as a poison in the past, scientists today extract chemicals from belladonna for use in medicine. These chemicals, when used under a doctor’s supervision, can treat a range of afflictions, from excessive urination at night to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

    Also found some other interesting facts--

    Belladonna has been used in alternative medicine as an aid in treating arthritis pain, colds or hay fever, bronchospasms caused by asthma or whooping cough, hemorrhoids, nerve problems, Parkinson's disease, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, and motion sickness. Jun 23, 2020

    How does it work? Belladonna has chemicals that can block functions of the body's nervous system. Some of the body functions regulated by the nervous system include salivation, sweating, pupil size, urination, digestive functions, and others. Belladonna can also cause increased heart rate and blood pressure.Jun 11, 2021

    And an interesting article covering Belladona in Medical news today--

    Thanks for poking my curiosity-Take Care-God Bless-Russ

  • jmermaid
    jmermaid Member Posts: 8 Member

    Hi Russ,


    Thanks for looking into it. Sounds like a wonder drug for me since I have nearly everything mentioned it treats in the article. Sorry it took me so long to get back. I was in the hospital the day after getting the G-tube inserted. Way too much pain, ended up being accute appendicitis & had emergency surgery to remove my appendix. Healing nicely from that but this feeding tube still hurts like hell & I haven't even needed it yet. This ordeal pushed getting treatment for my cancer up til the end of this month. Damn! Anyway, hope you're doing well. Take care & keep in touch.

    Jeri

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member

    OK, Jeri so glad it could provide help for you possibly I guess you will know once you try it.

    I am sorry you had to do a little hospital time but sometimes it is the best place for us. I don't think the G-tube caused your appendicitis maybe it was coincidental it happened about the same time. I never heard of anything like that happening anyway. Whether you used the feeding tube or not has nothing to do with it the tube is just a direct line to your stomach to get necessary food and liquids and meds in if needed. Your feeding tube should not be painful, if it hurts like hell as you say I think something's wrong. Contact the office that put it in right away and let them know it is very painful. On a feeding tube, there is a bumper I'll call it that goes up against the inside and there is one on the outside like a disk or bumper and the outside one is slid in against your outside skin. So you have one inside and outside on the tube keeping it in place so it can't move out or move in it is sort of lightly clamped by these 2 disks or retainers. It could be that they have them too tight and giving you pain but this should not be. If you have never had one they take a little to get used to and you may have a little discomfort but you should not have the level of pain you describe. I have had 2 of them and did not have any pain except you may have some initial soreness for a bit around the area for a few days like any surgery or procedure.

    Jeri-Wishing you the best

    Take care-God Bless-Russ