Tips on Getting Through Chemo & Radiation for Head & Neck Cancer Treatment

I finished induction chemo (March, April & May) and concurrent chemo/radiation (end of May, June & first of July) on July 7th, 2015. Its now been 4 months and I thought i would share the things I read about and the things I did to get through treatment. This may or may not work for everyone but it cannot hurt.  

1. Maintain Your Weight: I cannot stress enough the key to making treatment go easier is maintaining/gaining weight. Drink a lot protein drinks as a supplement (go to GNC) and never stop eating no matter what. Eat small to medium size meals 6-8 times a day. I maintained a caloric intake of 4,000 – 4,500 calories a day from March until July and gained 25 lbs. during treatment. I eventually lost 20 pounds from the last week of radiation until a month afterwards…but I felt fine. Never missed a day of work and always had my protein shake with me. I took steroids the day before, the day of and the day after chemo. This is very helpful in keeping an appetite and staying active.   
2. Stay Active: It’s important to metabolize the chemo and get it out of your system. No matter what…get up and walk, move around, work out, etc. Lying in bed will only make you feel worse. The less active you are…the less you feel like eating…not good.
3. Mouth Rinse: Oral hygiene is critical as chemo and radiation may give you mouth sores. I took a 32-ounce bottle of water with sea salt and baking soda and rinsed my mouth 30-40 times a day. If your mouth hurts or you have mouth sores, you won’t feel like eating…not good. 
4. Take your meds. The doctors will prescribe a regimen of anti-nausea and pain meds. Take those as prescribed whether you need them or not. If you take your meds when your nauseas or in pain, it is too late. Stay on top of this and take meds around the clock as prescribed. The best anti-nausea med on the market is EMEND. The pill form was not covered by my insurance but IV was. Insist on getting EMEND. Don’t take no for an answer if you hear “no”.  Again, if you can avoid nausea, you’ll feel like eating and will continue to eat and stay healthy. The key is eating! Don’t be a hero and try to power through this. Take your meds!!!!
5. Avoid People Who Are Sick: Wear your mask in public, keep hand sanitizers with you and do not get close to anyone with a cold or is otherwise sick. Your immune system will drop during chemo and you will not be able to fight infections. So…no shaving or anything that might cause a cut. After a while, shaving won’t be an issue. Once your temperature hits 100.4, it’s a strip to the emergency room (after hours) or the doctor’s office (during the day). Try to schedule chemo and radiation in the morning so if there are issues later on, the doctors will be around during the day.
6. Stay hydrated: Drink at least a gallon of water every day. It is critical to stay hydrated and keep plenty of fluids in your body. When you get dehydrated, bad thing happen. They will hydrate you during chemo/radiation but it’s important to drink plenty of fluids around the clock. You will pee like a horse but it’s good to rinse your system.
7. Avoid Diarrhea & Constipation: The doctors will prescribe over the counter and other diarrhea and constipation meds. It’s important to take those as needed depending on how your body reacts from day to day. You don’t want either and want to maintain healthy regular bowel movements. Either diarrhea or constipation will make you feel sluggish…tired and will affect your appetite. Again, you have to eat.
8. Swallowing: No matter what, you have to continue to “swallow” throughout this ordeal. That is the other benefit of eating…swallowing. You don’t want to lose this muscle memory and you want your body to continue to separate “food” and “air” as both travel down your throat. You will be assigned a nutritionist and swallowing expert. Do the exercises they prescribe. It’s a pain in the butt but it’s much worse if you don’t.
9. Positive Attitude: This is the most important…other than eating. Your attitude will dictate how you feel and start your day off good or bad. Bad attitude results in more stress…depression…loss of appetite…bad things.
10. Dress/Clothes: Don’t dress like you’re sick or going through treatment. At every chemo infusion and radiation treatment, I was dressed in slacks, dress shoes, button down and a jacket. I avoided the “cancer treatment” clothes and went onto work after I was done. May not work for you…but it was my way of telling myself that “I am fine” and its business as usual. Folks around me dressed like they were sick…looked like they were sick and acted like they were sick.
11. Frank Sinatra:  During every radiation session including MRIs, PETs, etc…I listened to Sinatra. Bring your own music or have them pipe in your music of choice.
12. PIC Line: I had Stanford put in a catheter in my arm for all IVs and chemo. Insist on this at the very beginning. It will save you from being stuck a hundred times with needles and it will save your veins from the effects of chemo. The catheter dumps the chemo about 2” above your heart and mixes well throughout your system. They will change the dressing weekly but it’s well worth it.

The above are the things I did during treatment...with all of the chemo (18 rounds) and radiation (35 doses), I stuck to my plan and overall it was tough but manageable. The key is great attitude, eating and staying healthy. During the month after radiation, it was tough to swallow but i ate anyways and continued my swallowing exercises. It's now 4 months post treatment and i feel almost back to normal. A little sore some days but overall I feel great. I kept my weight on during treatment and took my meds no matter how I felt and my experience was better than most.

I hope this helps!!!