radiation is killing him

I'm afraid my experience with radiation was terrible. To be honest I don't know if I'd do it if I had it to do over again but the doctors say they got all of the cancer so I suppose I should be grateful for that. I had a recurrence of tongue cancer after 13 years so this time I had to have radiation which I avoided the first time. This time the cancer had spread to two lymph nodes. I stopped eating solid foods two weeks into treatment and stopped eating anything two weeks later. I was told I had the worst case of radiation burn they had ever seen. I spent over 2 months in the hospital on IVs till I consented to a stomach tube. Its not fun but the gastrostomy tube that goes directly in the stomach is less uncomfortable after a while than the NG tube going through the nose. I've had both. I still have the stomach tube three months after insertion but now I am not using it. Eating is still difficult but I can get enough calories through boost/ensure to get by. Radiation was a horrible experience for me but it does eventually improve - there were many days I was close to giving up but now I am able to lead a somewhat normal life again. Everyone tells me the dry mouth must just be endured. I drink LOTS of water. My radiation oncologist offered a break from treatment but if I had stopped I never would have gone back so I elected to go through till the end. I'm sorry to hear about what your husband is going through and I wish I could offer more positive info. All I can reiterate is it does eventually improve after treatment stops but its a LONG process.

I would definatly recommend a feeding tube. If he does not get the proper nutritution, he'll end up in the hospital. Additionally, when the treatments end, he will experience a lenghtly healing process and will probably not be able to take much orally. Good luck.