Larynx cancer

zinniemay
zinniemay Member Posts: 522
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband.Non Smoker -non dranker
Dx Jan 2009 T4 N1 mo Larynx cancer squamous Cell Cancer.
Treatment Cisplatin Chemo and radation 7 weeks March to May 2009. (Note they told him wash your face really good with antibactrial soap just before you come in for radaition. He did this every day , his face got a little red but did not burn. I seen people who looked like their faces had been burned so bad. I assume that maybe him washing his face just before going in helped? If not it did not hurt either. He lost a little over 50 pounds When I read about chemo and radation treatments and how people lost so much weight I worried . He was not s skinny guy and had the extra weight , And I tried to make sure he eat good while he could. He has dry mouth still . He carries water with him .
May till May 2010
By May 2010 It spread to his Lungs. Metastic to Lungs
Treatment second time around Carbosplatin
no radation just Chemo.
He is sick about a week after the treatment, heart burn . He coughs more . He had to take water with him for his dry mouth.
He still eats very good . He still watchs his beloved Lions football. He lost the taste for sugary foods. His weight has stayed about the same give or take a few pounds.
after his second round of Chemo they did a Ct scan It showed the four tumors two on each lung had shrink 30-40 % and one tumor completly gone. Now finished in his fourth Chemo this week. Sept 9 he will have another C.T.Scan.
I don't know if this is "Normal" or We just over excited . The Doctors seam to think this is very good.

Jennie

Comments

  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365
    #2
    Great News
    Jennie
    Great news that they are shrinking. I am glad your husband is eating well. Just keep up a positve mental attitude
    Best Wishes & Prayers
    Dave
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #3
    Fire34 said:

    Great News
    Jennie
    Great news that they are shrinking. I am glad your husband is eating well. Just keep up a positve mental attitude
    Best Wishes & Prayers
    Dave

    I am not sure about so much
    I am not sure about so much going on and I am fearing I am missing things. I want the very best for my husband of 36 years. But am so afair I miss important questions, or I am not feeding him the right things .
    I tried to post it with a fact only thing so maybe someone can gather something from it. Or say something that is not right.
    This Chemo is making him weaker faster, I am assumeing that when all the treatments are done he will not be so weak. I think one part to note is he looks great , He has good boby mass. His blood counts were some lower and some highter, I asked if I could feed him anything that would help but was told not really it is the drugs doing their thing.
    We just keep thinking 30-40 % after two treatments. Maybe he will be one of the lucky ones. Not to wish bad on others. Just wanting all I can get for him.
    Thanks Dave if you think or know of something else I can do to help him let me know.

    Jennie
    woody@i2k.com
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #4
    So Far So Good
    30 to40% shrinkage after only two treatments sounds great. I know that was a joy to hear. I was glad to hear your hubby's ability to eat has not been compromised. It makes it much harder to get in the nutrition you need when you just aren't interested in food, and it's hard to eat.

    I do recall from my treatment days that the way you feel is sometimes directly proportional to the amount of food and water you take in. Many days, telling myself that I'd feel bad later is the only thing that helped me make myself eat and drink.

    I, too, hope that your husband continues to do well. I hope you do, too.
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #5
    Pam M said:

    So Far So Good
    30 to40% shrinkage after only two treatments sounds great. I know that was a joy to hear. I was glad to hear your hubby's ability to eat has not been compromised. It makes it much harder to get in the nutrition you need when you just aren't interested in food, and it's hard to eat.

    I do recall from my treatment days that the way you feel is sometimes directly proportional to the amount of food and water you take in. Many days, telling myself that I'd feel bad later is the only thing that helped me make myself eat and drink.

    I, too, hope that your husband continues to do well. I hope you do, too.

    Husband
    I don't know if it is cause he is scared or what but he said it helps him to eat when he has heart burn. He eats allot of melon. He finished his fourth treatment Thursday, So the next time we go he will have another scan. We went to a cancer center there they said pretty much by by, I wonder now if they take cases they know for sure that they can do something so it makes the Centers (their odds) Look better?
    I asked if there was food that he could eat that would help with his low-high blood counts they said not really . I am just trying to find better ways to help him stay healthy.
    But I am at a loss with most of these terms and processes.
  • ToBeGolden
    ToBeGolden Member Posts: 695
    #6
    zinniemay said:

    Husband
    I don't know if it is cause he is scared or what but he said it helps him to eat when he has heart burn. He eats allot of melon. He finished his fourth treatment Thursday, So the next time we go he will have another scan. We went to a cancer center there they said pretty much by by, I wonder now if they take cases they know for sure that they can do something so it makes the Centers (their odds) Look better?
    I asked if there was food that he could eat that would help with his low-high blood counts they said not really . I am just trying to find better ways to help him stay healthy.
    But I am at a loss with most of these terms and processes.

    My Case is Very Much Milder
    I am just finishing the first series of radiation (only) for laryngeal cancer. I was staged as T2N0, so my cancer was caught much earlier than your husbands. I will post my history in a separate thread.

    I am also a total non-smoker and have not had any alcohol for 18 years. Before that I was a binge drinker. However, I was a software engineer for over 25 years. That job placed me in a cubicle, sometimes over 50 hours a week. There, I was behind the monitors of my fellow workers. I know that electro magnetic radiation escapes out the back of CRT monitors, especially the older models. (Most older style TV's are placed so that the rear of the monitor faces the wall.) I am questioning whether being behind computer monitors and/or tv's can promote cancers.

    I don't think there will be any studies on this subject, and there is no reason to ask doctors. Doctors are trained not to openly speculate, and all they could say is that there are no studies. Yet, I wonder how often this is a cancer survivor's experience.

    Once again, I am sorry that your husband's tumor was not found until it reached an advance state. Just remember, some patients do survive.
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #7
    ToBeGolden said:

    My Case is Very Much Milder
    I am just finishing the first series of radiation (only) for laryngeal cancer. I was staged as T2N0, so my cancer was caught much earlier than your husbands. I will post my history in a separate thread.

    I am also a total non-smoker and have not had any alcohol for 18 years. Before that I was a binge drinker. However, I was a software engineer for over 25 years. That job placed me in a cubicle, sometimes over 50 hours a week. There, I was behind the monitors of my fellow workers. I know that electro magnetic radiation escapes out the back of CRT monitors, especially the older models. (Most older style TV's are placed so that the rear of the monitor faces the wall.) I am questioning whether being behind computer monitors and/or tv's can promote cancers.

    I don't think there will be any studies on this subject, and there is no reason to ask doctors. Doctors are trained not to openly speculate, and all they could say is that there are no studies. Yet, I wonder how often this is a cancer survivor's experience.

    Once again, I am sorry that your husband's tumor was not found until it reached an advance state. Just remember, some patients do survive.

    Thank you
    My husband worked for the "telephone company" in the little building that you see with no windows! The Stitch rooms I think that is what they called them. They would spray for bugs, I know my husband complained about that. He would come home coughing . So I too wonder. The company said they stopped. But who knows.
    Then I read so much about H.P.V. and he is in a study for that but I am not sure well have to ask , he he was tested for that HPV16-18 ?
    He had some trouble with the first Chemo and radation but he did not take the drugs not even the compazine. Or the pills they gave for pain. He did not have any surgeries except for the Biopsies. He had no j-tube, pic line . This round is seamly a little harder on him ,nausea and weakiness. He keeps going in his garden, loves his melons. I wonder too if the comazine is aiding to the weakiness.
  • kimmygarland
    kimmygarland Member Posts: 312
    #8
    zinniemay said:

    Thank you
    My husband worked for the "telephone company" in the little building that you see with no windows! The Stitch rooms I think that is what they called them. They would spray for bugs, I know my husband complained about that. He would come home coughing . So I too wonder. The company said they stopped. But who knows.
    Then I read so much about H.P.V. and he is in a study for that but I am not sure well have to ask , he he was tested for that HPV16-18 ?
    He had some trouble with the first Chemo and radation but he did not take the drugs not even the compazine. Or the pills they gave for pain. He did not have any surgeries except for the Biopsies. He had no j-tube, pic line . This round is seamly a little harder on him ,nausea and weakiness. He keeps going in his garden, loves his melons. I wonder too if the comazine is aiding to the weakiness.

    Wishing you....
    and your husband the best as you go continue to fight this awful disease. Sounds like he is getting better!

    As far as weakness and food, have you tried getting some high calorie shakes into him? You can take a Boost, a cup of ice cream, and a cup of whole milk and have about a 500 cal shake. Just a thought. My husband is diabetic and it's hard for me to find high cal things for him to eat. He did not have a peg tube during his first treatemnt, lost 40 lbs and now we are facing a recurrence, I am very worried about the weight loss that is possible.

    I hope the next scan brings you good news.
  • zinniemay
    zinniemay Member Posts: 522
    #9
    kimmygarland said:

    Wishing you....
    and your husband the best as you go continue to fight this awful disease. Sounds like he is getting better!

    As far as weakness and food, have you tried getting some high calorie shakes into him? You can take a Boost, a cup of ice cream, and a cup of whole milk and have about a 500 cal shake. Just a thought. My husband is diabetic and it's hard for me to find high cal things for him to eat. He did not have a peg tube during his first treatemnt, lost 40 lbs and now we are facing a recurrence, I am very worried about the weight loss that is possible.

    I hope the next scan brings you good news.

    Wishing
    Kimmy, that is the thing that I don't get, He is not having problems eating, He just finished fried catfish, I don't know if he is eating to much , He did lose 2 pounds in three weeks, But He does not eat any sweets . He has always been a big eater. He did the firist round Cisplatin he did not like smells, foods,he did loss 50 pds but he had that to spair he still managed to eat like soups. Potato soup he could not get enough of it. Then a week after he was done with treatment he started eating more like he always did .
    Now this treatment Carbosplatin he finished round 4 of 8 .When he feels sick at his stomach he says it feels better if he eats something. He is taking the compazine. So I don't know what is going on . I think maybe a little nerves maybe? Even while he is having treatment he will eat a bagel and cream cheese. He dranks milk a gallon every four days.
    So he is having no problems with food. Oh I am excited about the next scan and worried. There is no way of getting out of the fear .
    He said the last time he felt like a pin cushion they missed his vien four times trying to draw blood. Then had a hard time getting the I.V. but he did a good job.
    I am a diabetic too. So know that must be very hard to find a way to keep all in check.
    I hope the next scan brings you better news too.

    Jennie

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