Ear pain

dennis318 said:

Hey Guys, Give Me Some Answers
I went to Doctor Monday, this one will be my permanet cancer Doctor, good news, no tumor has been found after my chemo and radiation. Now, someone please tell me what keeps my throat soar and my ears soar, i drink somewhat cold, they burn, i swallow more than cream foods, soft diet, the throat stretches and stings. when will this end, on 6th week of recoup from radiation and chemo, my weight stays at a low, but is stable, the doctor tells me its a one week at a time step forward, not a day, some weeks will be bigger gains than others, i would love to wake up and not have to drain phlem, and get my soreness out of my throat before eating my eggs, I hope this isn't how it's always going to be????, Help Please. The pHlem decreased a little. but When a person hasn't had cancer, it's not a over night fix, My boss was expecting me back to normal by now, Tired of hearing about it. Stress City! Thanks for any feedback on my situation, it hurts, and I take pain meds, This only skims the pain, Thanks everyone, Take Care

dennis318 said:

Hey Guys, Give Me Some Answers
I went to Doctor Monday, this one will be my permanet cancer Doctor, good news, no tumor has been found after my chemo and radiation. Now, someone please tell me what keeps my throat soar and my ears soar, i drink somewhat cold, they burn, i swallow more than cream foods, soft diet, the throat stretches and stings. when will this end, on 6th week of recoup from radiation and chemo, my weight stays at a low, but is stable, the doctor tells me its a one week at a time step forward, not a day, some weeks will be bigger gains than others, i would love to wake up and not have to drain phlem, and get my soreness out of my throat before eating my eggs, I hope this isn't how it's always going to be????, Help Please. The pHlem decreased a little. but When a person hasn't had cancer, it's not a over night fix, My boss was expecting me back to normal by now, Tired of hearing about it. Stress City! Thanks for any feedback on my situation, it hurts, and I take pain meds, This only skims the pain, Thanks everyone, Take Care

dennis318 said:

thanks
I want to thank every one that responded so fast. I sit here and think it will be different everyday, but wake up to a struggling voice, and the phlem, I get tired of it, but nothing else but time, to wait to see an improvement. When people don't understand the trauma your body has gone threw, and it should be fixed in a week, after what anyone has gone threw with cancer, we cherish each day we breath, I get mentally down, but struggle to hopefully see a voice return and some of the aftermath diminished by this cancer. this site was a great comfort to come too, for answers and reassurance....thanks to all. Dennis. Cancer has totally changed my outlook on life and this disease.

Scambuster said:

Dennis - Patience
Hi Dennis, I finished treatments early October 2009 so I am about 4 months ahead of you. In brief, you seem to have done well, working throughout treatment etc. I was a basket case and hospitalized for over 4 weeks and again after treatments finished. My recovery felt slow too but the "measure improvements by the week" is very good advice my friend. I took a nose dive 2 weeks out and was found to be in a pretty bad depression (unbeknownst to me). The Docs picked it up when it was carted back in and they dosed my up with a few anti- D's. It turned my recovery around 180. One thing is the meds make me sleep a solid 8-9 hours a night. I really think this has helped me. You heal when you sleep so if you don;t sleep..... makes it harder. Everyone reading should take note because if you're not sleeping, it will compromise your healing. I hadn't slept properly since I was diagnosed in early August. I was a total wreck.

The mucus levels will decrease so don't stress on that. I have small amounts but nothing that bothers me. The pain also subsided though I am on a Capsule of Lyrica a day but I think I can stop that soon (See the Quack this week). On the voice, I didn't shut up during my treatment and didn't lose my voice. I do now have a hoarse voice but i think mainly due to the dryness as my saliva is almost non-existent. I don;t know if the voice is a 'use it or lose it' device but I hope yours comes back soon. Your docs 'should' know what has caused your loss of voice. Makes you mad when they don't have answers.

I am not surprised you are fatigued, as you haven't really had a break to recover from what you say. I was out of action for 6 months. Just started back early February. I do take a bunch of supplements including anti-oxidants, zinc, magnesium, selenium +++ email me if you want the full list. I believe these have aided my recovery too. I have returned to me pre C energy levels. Even though I am still 44lbs lighter and not gaining, I feel good.

I suffered chronic fatigue years back so I can relate. I believe if you give your body the stuff it needs to recover and operate well (nutrition), then you are giving yourself the best chances that things will improve.

Make sure you don't let your mental state go unchecked Dennis. Depression is 'very' common among us survivors and can be very debilitating so talk to your Docs as it readily treatable.

Hang in there as I think you will see improvement soon and many of the worrisome symptoms should slowly subside. You are only 6 weeks out Dennis so go easy on yourself. Feel free to email craigamail@gmail.com

All the best
Scambuster in China

thegirlfriend said:

time
Its so ironic. When you are dealt the blow of a diagnosis of Cancer, you think of your mortality, you think this cant be it, Im not ready to leave, i have to hurry and start doing whatever it takes to survive, hurry hurry. I might not have enough time!

Then you do your treatment, whatever kind it may be, and the recovery begins. Now time seems to be all you have.

Dennis, dont try to expectations on your body. Everyones experience of recovery, and how fast it goes are similiar but also very very different. Some people went years before feeling some sort of normalcy that they could relate to before cancer, and others in a month. Its so very different for everyone. My boyfriend is 19 1/2 weeks out of treatment. Isnt able to get solid food down yet, keeps having to battle Thrush, has no saliva, his tastebuds arent working right yet even for anything he does put down, and has a post nasal drip which everyone knows how that is in the morning. But his hair has grown back nicely, his color is healthy again, he hasnt suffered from ear pain, very little dizziness, lots of things people mention, he has not experienced. He lost 60-70 lbs, 40 of which he needed to lose. All of his blood work came back at excellent excellent levels. No prediabetic, no more blood pressure (heart history) no more cholesteral meds....his blood work has never been healthier that way.


Your recovery is moving, just slower than you anticipated. Its too hard to put your body on some schedule when it has never experienced the chaos its going thru. I tell my boyfriend that Im sure his body is constantly going thru little turn overs, where it feels worse on some days and then stays ok, and then worse again. Its working so hard to get back to some familiarity. It really is. So try not to let your brain argue with the other parts.
You will get there, just like I tell my boyfriend.
You have been given back the gift of time.

thegirlfriend said:

Dennis
I think he is improving, but its a very very slow process. He had thought long ago that he would have been eating solid food again by now. I know you know the let down when yet another day comes and goes and seems so eternally monotonous.

We shall see how he improves just as I do everyday when we speak. his new protein powder came in today, Lean Body, 60g of protein, no bloating, no sugar. He said he thinks, just maybe, that he might have felt a little twinge of extra energy a bit after drinking his first serving.

Thanks for your thoughts Dennis....

sweetblood22 said:

thank you
maybe it's the nerve endings bugging you? idk. i know sometimes my dissection scar drives me nuts. some days it gets itchy. somedays i have burning pain. sometimes it feels tight and pulls and is painful. the later is almost a daily occurance unfortunately.

also as a long time dry skin sufferer, just because you think your skin doesn't look dry because it's not flaking, does not mean it's not dry. i would continue to moisturize. i have been done way longer than you and if i miss a day of moisturizing i get dry and flaky to radiation areas still.

radiation lasts a looong time. so i imagine the effects to your body are going to last a long time. you are doing well for the short time you have been out. honest! remember after you are done with treatments, you still continue to cook for a couple off weeks. it is cumulative. those were my most horrible painful weeks. i think scambuster might have felt the same way. i too went into a bit of a tailspin and got worse, and thats when i got so sick and lost 40lbs. not during rads.

so you are doing well. measure your progress not day to day, but month to month.