Cough

38sallyb
38sallyb Member Posts: 87
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Jim has developed a terrible cough over the past week. Last night he coughed for 5 minutes without stopping, causing
him to become nauseous. We have Zofran dissolvable tabs for that and, luckily, they work instantly. He hates the codeine
based cough syrup because he can't shake the drowsy feeling during the next day if he takes it at night. Finally resorted to that in order to get any sleep at all. These 5 minute spells of continuous coughing lasted until after 2 am when he finally took the syrup. I'm concerned this will continue.

To recap, he was dx Oct 29, 2009 T3N1M0 adenocarcinoma at the junction with the stomach. He had 8 weeks, 4 sessions, of Taxotere, Oxaliplatin and 5FU for 48 hours. After a 2 week break he had a PET scan that showed tumor size had decreased by half as well as the node. He started concurrent Proton Therapy radiation/chemo with Oxaliplatin and a 5FU pump for 5 days. Sailed through the first round of chemo with no side effects or loss of energy. This time, it's different. Occasional nausea (Zofran has been much more effective that the Compazine) and bad "sunburn" on his back and this awful cough, plus being very tired most of the time.

Anyone have any suggestions? He is sleeping in an elevated position, thinking that would help with drainage, but it hasn't helped. We see the PA at noon, but wondered if anyone here has other ideas than more codeine.

Comments

  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #2
    Jim's Cough
    Hi Sally and Jim,
    Sorry you both had a rough night. I hate that annoying dry cough. Alot of times it does come from post nasal drip. Sitting in an upright position will help. Drink plenty of fluids. Suck on hard candies or chew gum. These will all help keep his throat moist. At bedtime though you might have to resort to taking the prescribed cough med. I have that cough med as well, and have to use it to get a good nights sleep sometimes. Best of luck.
    Tina
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #3
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • 38sallyb
    38sallyb Member Posts: 87
    #4
    Tina Blondek said:

    Jim's Cough
    Hi Sally and Jim,
    Sorry you both had a rough night. I hate that annoying dry cough. Alot of times it does come from post nasal drip. Sitting in an upright position will help. Drink plenty of fluids. Suck on hard candies or chew gum. These will all help keep his throat moist. At bedtime though you might have to resort to taking the prescribed cough med. I have that cough med as well, and have to use it to get a good nights sleep sometimes. Best of luck.
    Tina

    Thanks, Tina and Sherri.
    Thanks, Tina and Sherri. I'll tell him to chew some gum, maybe that will help. We saw the PA today. We LOVE him! He says the chest xray shows he does NOT have pneumonia. It isn't a dry cough, it's productive, but no increase in white cell count so not an infection. Just very tiring. And scary for me to hear in the middle of the night.

    Main problem is for him NOT to cough during radiation. Hope it goes away after next week when treatment ends. We have 5 weeks off and come back in mid April for all the follow up scans and tests. Pray, please. Thanks.
    Sherri, I would love to visit with you sometimes. My email is sbonsall1@msn.com if you want to email me.
    Sally
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #5
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  • 38sallyb
    38sallyb Member Posts: 87
    #6
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Thank you William. It did
    Thank you William. It did not seem to be food related. He isn't eating much during the day and not at all at bedtime since he's had the cough. It sounds like a smoker's cough, kind of wet, but the PA we saw today says his white count and chest xray don't show pneumonia or anything in the lungs. He is propped up higher tonight; we'll see if that helps, along with the codeine syrup, he hopes to get a good night's sleep
    Just trying to get him to eat now, he'll need more weight if he has the surgery. He has only 6 more days of radiation and 1 week of chemo left. Yippee!
    Sally
  • cherseg
    cherseg Member Posts: 21
    #7
    38sallyb said:

    Thank you William. It did
    Thank you William. It did not seem to be food related. He isn't eating much during the day and not at all at bedtime since he's had the cough. It sounds like a smoker's cough, kind of wet, but the PA we saw today says his white count and chest xray don't show pneumonia or anything in the lungs. He is propped up higher tonight; we'll see if that helps, along with the codeine syrup, he hopes to get a good night's sleep
    Just trying to get him to eat now, he'll need more weight if he has the surgery. He has only 6 more days of radiation and 1 week of chemo left. Yippee!
    Sally

    Radiation??
    There is such a thing as a "radiation" cough. Especially since the radiation involves the esophagus. Here is a good site with info and help for the patient. Hope this helps!

    http://www.ehow.com/how_5572108_stop-coughing-taking-radiation-treatments.html

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