Pennyn14 - Congrats to you and your husband

pennynl4 said:

Sorry Glenna......I have been out of touch.
Hi Glenna, How are you doing by now anyway. I hope by now you are eating and feeling much better. Sorry I didn't respond, but I haven't even been on the network because of still running my husband everyday.

I have been so busy with my husband. We didn't get to do the happy dance when he finished the radiation and chemo treatments on August 18. My husband was not doing very good and it was hard just getting him to his treatments that day. In fact, he wanted to call in sick to chemo that day. On August 19, he had to have a feeding tube. He had been going in for fluids that last couple of weeks before radiation and chemo was over because he couldn't eat much or swallow much water. I was so worried the night I brought him home from the surgery since he was so weak. And he still couldn't take anything until 24 hours because the surgeon wanted to wait 24hours after the surgery to make sure the feeding tube didn't leak into his abdomen. He lost another 5 pounds just from the fasting process.Then after the feeding tube was put in, he got so nauseated it was hard to get any nutrition down him. I still had to take him in for hydration everyday because he couldn't swallow much water and putting it through the feeding tube made him sick no matter what anti-nausea med he was on. Sometimes it would take forever just to get an 8 oz can of formula down him. On the weekend, I would have to take him to the hospital for hydration.

Things are looking up. This weekend was the first time he hasn't had to go get hydrated in over 6 weeks. He is able to swallow more water now and he even was able to eat the insides of a Swanson's chicken pot pie. He can't eat the crust, but this is a big accomplishment. He still has to drink the Ensure, along with the formula, but little by little he will be able to add a little bit of soft foods. He still has problems with the mucous and he coughs and chokes a lot on it. And that makes it uncomfortable at the tube site. it can only get better, right?

Please let me know how you are doing and what is in store for you. I apologize for not responding sooner to your congratulations.

Congratulations to you, Glenna. YOU DID IT, AND SO DID WE. It was the hardest thing to get through, but WE DID.

You can email me to if you want......pennynL4@yahoo.com.
Take care and I will be waiting to hear from you......Penny

It will get better!!
Hi Penny,

I'm so relieved to hear from you, I was beginning to worry about you and your husband as I haven't seen any postings from you in quite a while.

I'm really sorry to hear that your husband had such a tough time at the end of his treatments but at least they are done now and he can start the long road to recovery or as so many people call it "the new normal".

It's been a month since I finished the treatments for the larynx cancer and I think I've come a long way. The beginning is tough because you want to be able to do everything and eat everything you did before the treatments. Unfortunately some things will never be the same again, at least not for me. I have always loved bread but find it one of the hardest things to eat now, it's like having a ball of cotton in my mouth. I have noticed quite a few changes in the past week that are very encouraging. I have stopped using the tube for feeding and eat and drink everything by mouth, sometimes it's difficult but I force myself because I want to get this tube out asap!! I try new foods each day to see what I can taste and have found quite a variety of things that at least have some flavor to them. I started with mashed potato smothered in gravy and found that I can also eat most types of noodles with a creamed soup as a topping. I can also taste bananas and grapes again and drink a glass of V8 each day, although some days the V8 causes some burning in my throat. I don't do well with beef but chicken and fish taste good and are moist enough that I can eat them. Naturally I have to have water with me at all times and sip it constantly while I am eating but I figure that is a small price to pay if they have shrunk the tumor in my throat.

I am finally not as tired as I was a few weeks ago and am slowly getting my strength back, not at 100% yet but I'm getting stronger everyday. I lost a lot of the muscle tone in my arms and thighs, they look like toothpicks with a lot of loose skin I try to walk each day when the weather is good and my husband has some 5 pound weights that I am trying to use each day so I can get some strength back in my arms.

I still have dry mouth and probably always will, the nurse told me my salivary glands were "fried" and probably won't improve much more than they are now but the mucous is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago so I am finally able to sleep through the night without having to get up for a glass of water. I use Biotene tooth paste and mouthwash and rinse my mouth with water, baking soda and salt during the day.

I haven't had a scan done on my throat yet (hopefully within the next 2 weeks) so I don't know how much the chemo and radiation shrank the tumor but I can tell just by the way I'm feeling that it had to have done something good I finally have my voice back and no longer have the constant ear and throat pain I was having before the treatments.

I have to go to another hospital for the radiation on my lung, it is called stereotatic radiosurgery. This type of radiation is accurate within 1 millimeter which the doctor said is necessary for my lung as it will not destroy the good cells in my lung. They did a scan of my lung 2 weeks ago and said the chemo had shrunk the tumor quite a bit and the radiation should get rid of even more of it. I'm just hoping this doesn't cause a set back in my recovery as I'm finally feeling more like my old self. Oh well, you gotta do whatever it takes to get through all of this. Believe me I wake up every morning and am grateful for another beautiful day and for feeling as good as I am now.

Tell your husband to hang in there, it DOES get better, you just have to be patient and keep trying new things each day. You will both be surprised at how quickly things improve with each passing day, just keep reminding yourselves that things will only get better.

WE DID IT!! Please let me know when your husband is feeling better and we can all do the "Happy Dance" together. I'm quite sure there are a lot of other people on this site who would love to do the dance for him also. Maybe we can start a weekly "Happy Dance Day" for everyone who has finished treatments - LOL

Take care and stay in touch - Glenna