Any Suggestions for the Mucous

hershey1
hershey1 Member Posts: 6
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husbands main post tx. problem is the mucous As stated in another post it
is slowly getting better. Is there anything to stop it or make it better. He is
constantly gargling with the salt/soda water solution that helped the mouth sores.
I thought some of you guys might have some suggestions to help it. Now it seems to
be worse in the morning and better in the evening. It was keeping him up at night
and he would have to get up every hour to spit it up but he is now sleeping
pretty much thru the night. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #2
    Time
    Time is the best healer for this particular problem. Even time may not eradicate it completely, depending on the particular cancer and treatment. I am tongue/neck cancer survivor of surgery, rads and chemotherapy, and now, closing in on four years since surgery and nearly 3.5 years since end of treatment, I still have daily mucuous ejections to contend with, maybe a couple of times a day.

    Hopefully this is not the same for everyone.

    In any case, as far as I can tell, hydration, hydration, hydration is the best thing, along with time. Incidentally, I have been advised by OncoMan that seltzer water is an even better hydrator than regular water. I haven't tested that notion so am just passing it along.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • jkinobay
    jkinobay Member Posts: 298 Member
    #3
    soccerfreaks said:

    Time
    Time is the best healer for this particular problem. Even time may not eradicate it completely, depending on the particular cancer and treatment. I am tongue/neck cancer survivor of surgery, rads and chemotherapy, and now, closing in on four years since surgery and nearly 3.5 years since end of treatment, I still have daily mucuous ejections to contend with, maybe a couple of times a day.

    Hopefully this is not the same for everyone.

    In any case, as far as I can tell, hydration, hydration, hydration is the best thing, along with time. Incidentally, I have been advised by OncoMan that seltzer water is an even better hydrator than regular water. I haven't tested that notion so am just passing it along.

    Take care,

    Joe

    Mucous
    Two things I did that seemed to help:

    ** I took Mucinex, the extra strength version. Doc's advice and it helped some.

    ** My Dentist had considerable experience with HNC patients. He recommended frequent rinse&spit with hot tapwater and 1/2 tsp. of baking soda and 1/4 tsp. of salt. His explanation is that this combination helps to moderate the PH in your mouth which can effect the mucous production.

    At the end of the day though Joe is right, patience and I mean for possibly several months.

    I did try Club Soda and it is very soothing. I still use it almost 2 yrs. later. Of course a good cold beer is also soothing due to the same effervesence.

    Hang in there..............things will improve. JK
  • amawdsley
    amawdsley Member Posts: 4
    #4
    Mucus
    Our doctor told us it wasn't really just the mucus. It was where my husband was healing and the dead skin mixed with the mucus was causing the problem. It was gross but we bought the Aloe Juice at Walmart and he drank it everyday. Along with ALOT of water. It help. He still has problems sometimes but not nears as much.
    GOOD LUCK!
  • hershey1
    hershey1 Member Posts: 6
    #5
    update on the mucous
    well as some of you said "what a difference a day makes".(or a month) in my husbands case the mucous has subsided. as of yesterday he was 8 wks post radiation and chemo for SCC at base of tongue. he saw the ENT yesterday and was able to have his peg tube removed as he is doing fairly good on eating again.he was solely using the tube until a week ago and started drinking first and now some food. he is doing some homemade protein shakes that are about 600 calories each and now fitting in regular food also. his taste is actually pretty good and seems to have some saliva too. all in all he is doing good now only being two months post tx. from the caregiver point of view (and his too) i thought this day would never come. slowly but ever so slowly he is getting back to his old self. hang in there everyone it can be done with alot of patience and perseverance. Bless all of you for
    your replys and help.
  • carolinagirl67
    carolinagirl67 Member Posts: 153
    #6
    hershey1 said:

    update on the mucous
    well as some of you said "what a difference a day makes".(or a month) in my husbands case the mucous has subsided. as of yesterday he was 8 wks post radiation and chemo for SCC at base of tongue. he saw the ENT yesterday and was able to have his peg tube removed as he is doing fairly good on eating again.he was solely using the tube until a week ago and started drinking first and now some food. he is doing some homemade protein shakes that are about 600 calories each and now fitting in regular food also. his taste is actually pretty good and seems to have some saliva too. all in all he is doing good now only being two months post tx. from the caregiver point of view (and his too) i thought this day would never come. slowly but ever so slowly he is getting back to his old self. hang in there everyone it can be done with alot of patience and perseverance. Bless all of you for
    your replys and help.

    Sounds encouraging
    Thank you for your encouraging words. My Husband is at the end of week four treatment. We have one more chemo and three more weeks of radiation. He was kind of hoping to have his PEG removed a couple of weeks after treatment is over but I guess that may not be possible. He has cancer in his right tonsil. He is still eating some food, but uses the PEG almost full time. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks!
  • hershey1
    hershey1 Member Posts: 6
    #7
    carolinagirl67 said:

    Sounds encouraging
    Thank you for your encouraging words. My Husband is at the end of week four treatment. We have one more chemo and three more weeks of radiation. He was kind of hoping to have his PEG removed a couple of weeks after treatment is over but I guess that may not be possible. He has cancer in his right tonsil. He is still eating some food, but uses the PEG almost full time. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks!

    everyone is different
    carolinagirl as you can see from all the posts here everyone is different. if your husband
    is determined enough to get his peg out early then maybe he may. our dr. told my husband
    he had to prove to him that he was getting enough food in by mouth to sustain his weight.
    it is slow, at first after tx. ended it took a couple of weeks before he could swallow
    water. It kept trying to go down the wrong way. Now that has subsided and he gradually is
    adding food too. If your husband had IMRT as mine and his targeted area was his tonsil (my husbands was base of tongue) then his swallowing issues may be different and he may be able
    to eat earlier than mine. Every day after tx. is a new day and the food he ate one day
    may taste different today. I think maybe his taste buds are still "coming back to life".
    He does taste tho, and the dr. thought that would be the biggest issue for him, since his
    ca was at base of tongue where alot of taste buds are. You never know! Good luck to ya'll and yes there is definitely light at the end of this tunnel.

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