EBR anyone?

AliceP
AliceP Member Posts: 32
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
I've started external beam radiation treatments and would like to hear from people who have under gone them. Today was my 8th treatment of 30. My throat is already getting sore and swallowing is quite uncomfortable. I know it is just going to get worse. I'm sure my oncologist will put me on meds when I see him on Monday. I'd love to hear about your experience. How long did it take after the treatments were over to swallow without pain? Was anything particularly soothing?

Comments

  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #2
    i had 30 EBR treatments last fall
    drinking water was nearly impossible but I found milk to be soothing. that's mainly how i stayed hydrated. early on i was able to get some relief with Cepacol but was soon prescribed Capital with codeine which is a liquid pain killer. i took it about 30 mins prior to eating and it did help to ease the pain. by the midpoint i was eating mostly Ensure, ice cream, whipped cream, scrambled eggs and, believe it or not, baby food. while the pain killer is helpful it does require that you hydrate well since it slows your digestive tract - and that is a bit tricky to do when swallowing is painful. i think within two weeks of completing treatments i was doing much better. when i was finally able to eat a sandwich i was thrilled. i hope your skin is holding up. i did okay with that and used aloe at first. after the third week or so i was given a prescription for Silvedene which worked wonders. i was also instructed to apply compresses soaked in diluted vinegar - those helped too! It's definitely a challenge but you can get through it one day at a time! best to you.
    eileen
  • AliceP
    AliceP Member Posts: 32
    #3
    alapah said:

    i had 30 EBR treatments last fall
    drinking water was nearly impossible but I found milk to be soothing. that's mainly how i stayed hydrated. early on i was able to get some relief with Cepacol but was soon prescribed Capital with codeine which is a liquid pain killer. i took it about 30 mins prior to eating and it did help to ease the pain. by the midpoint i was eating mostly Ensure, ice cream, whipped cream, scrambled eggs and, believe it or not, baby food. while the pain killer is helpful it does require that you hydrate well since it slows your digestive tract - and that is a bit tricky to do when swallowing is painful. i think within two weeks of completing treatments i was doing much better. when i was finally able to eat a sandwich i was thrilled. i hope your skin is holding up. i did okay with that and used aloe at first. after the third week or so i was given a prescription for Silvedene which worked wonders. i was also instructed to apply compresses soaked in diluted vinegar - those helped too! It's definitely a challenge but you can get through it one day at a time! best to you.
    eileen

    Thanks Eileen
    Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It really helps to hear about your experiences. So far my skin is fine. My neck feels tight and kind of stiff. Right now swallowing is the worst. It's encouraging to hear that you were doing better within 2 weeks of completing the treatments. I'm hoping to be better by Christmas.
    Thanks again, Alice
  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #4
    AliceP said:

    Thanks Eileen
    Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It really helps to hear about your experiences. So far my skin is fine. My neck feels tight and kind of stiff. Right now swallowing is the worst. It's encouraging to hear that you were doing better within 2 weeks of completing the treatments. I'm hoping to be better by Christmas.
    Thanks again, Alice

    Hey Alice
    I could feel it slowly getting better within 2 weeks though I probably didn't feel normal for about 4 to 5 weeks. That first sandwich did take a little while!
  • butterfly123
    butterfly123 Member Posts: 52
    #5
    Radiation
    Hi Alice-
    I had IBRT to the C2 spine area. I had 5 sessions at 6000 cGy for total of 36000 cGy. It is definetly a build up affect. The C2 sits high so my sore throat was back of the throat and up. I called my doctor and she gave me some "magic solution' but did not work except to make my mouth numb. My sore throat happened after my 4th treatment and was the worse about 3 to 5 days after I had my last treatment. My doctor also gave me liquid oxycodine but that just made me spaced out and did not help the sore throat. This may sound wierd but I lived on chocolate milk on ice. It was the only thing I would get down for about a week. Best of luck and I think you doing the right thing in trying to be prepared. Hang in there because it well get a lot worse before it gets better. Stay strong!

Discussion Boards