Hi all, my name is Steve. I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in November last year with a metastasis in my right shoulder. I have completed 8 rounds of flot chemo and now awaiting Sabr radiotherapy. Still having side effects from chemo, the worst is problems with my nose. I have swollen turbinates and have just had an infection up my nose. My health providers don’t seem concerned about this and I wonder if anyone else has had this problem. Seems they have never heard of this problem. I have googled it and yes this can be a problem from having chemo and really getting me down not being able to breathe properly.
Hi
Welcome to our community, I hope you find it both informative and supportive.
I am also Steve, one of our community champions and my experience of cancer is via my wife who has Leiomyosarcoma so very different type. One of the side effects of Janice's first chemotherapy was to cause a lung to collapse so she could really relate to difficulty in breathing.
I don't often post in this forum but noted your post had not had any replies and did not want you to think it had not been noticed, by posting it will get bumped up to the top of the list and perhaps will be seen by others with more direct experience.
While I have not had cancer myself I have had a number of challenges with breathing myself including a number of hospital stays, it is amazing how we do not always appreciate something we do so automatically.
Hope things start to look up soon.
<<hugs>>
Steve
Thank you
Hi Steve
I wonder if it is worth asking whether a steroid nasal inhaler or antihistamine could be prescribed and whether it might reduce the swelling now that chemo has finished?
Jane
Hi Jane,
I was prescribed steroid nasal spray by my GP. Then had a referral to ENT who prescribed steroid nasal drops. Both helped a small amount but now I have stopped taking them seem to be back to square one. I was taking anti histamines although I now find I am better not taking them, I find they dry things up and make it worse. I don’t feel that it is allergies but I could be wrong. I have to admit some improvement today now I have finished antibiotics.
I have had a long chat with one of my McMillan nurses and they want to refer me back to ENT. I am going to Oxford hospital next week for radiotherapy staging on my shoulder and they want to get me through that first. I have looked online and found out radiotherapy can cause the same problem with turbinates and congestion.
I have so far coped fairly well with everything thrown at me, but this is really getting to me. I now find I am suffering anxiety and that’s really not helping, trying to remain positive and it does help talking to people that understand all the challenges that go with cancer treatments.
Anyway thank you for message and reaching out to me. 
