After care, 3 weeks after radiotheraphy

Very early days Dave, don't know what your treatment regime was but I still have taste bud issues as well as eating problems 5/6 years down the line. Don't want to depress you and suggest you'll be the same but in all honesty three weeks is nothing, after effects may start to wear off in a couple of weeks but it can be a long process. Hope yours is short.

Agree with Mike

its still early days

I had a nasogastric tube in for weeks after I finished RT and was still on morphine six weeks after

it does get better but slowly. 

I hated ensure drinks too  even via NG tube I could taste them . 

Strangely now 8 months later if I’m in a hurry or need a calorie top up I quite enjoy them. Nuts! 

Thanks mike

Thank you

Hi Daveg710, I have to agree with the posts that Mike and Beesuit have written , I find the Ensures pretty good compared to the others that are available , I know its very sweet so I water mine down a bit as its also quite thick plus it helps if you are PEG feeding . Why are you only on paracetamol and not something stronger as there are better painkillers around . Three weeks is very optimistic in my eyes unless you are very lucky but as MikeO mentioned it depends what surgery or treatment you have had . All these side affects will improve with time . All the best ,take care .

                                                                                Chris .

Hi 

I am just iver a year post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer 35 radiotherapy and 2 chemo as others have said 3 weeks may seem a long time but unfortunately it isn’t ,many people getbtold by there trans after 2/3 weeks yiu will start to feel better, honestly I’ve been in touch with a lot and not one has been that lucky. It’s babybsteps all the way some day s two steps forward and one step back. 

I have a blog www.radioactiveraz.wordpress.com where I chart my journey ,there’s tips in there .

re the ensures I now have one if I have a bad calorie day like yesterday I didn’t eat well, so today felt yuck had an Ensure and hubby can see the difference. I agree they are unpleasant when yiu have a mouthful of gunk ,I had a nasal feeding tube uo until Week 4 post radiotherapy so after I had to use ensures what I did was water them down makes them less gluggy .

re the mucus and spittting I was given carbusistine tondry it up worth asking. 

Do you have a nebuliser? And a humidifier? Nebuliser from hospital humidifier from amazon

Hazel

One moe thing Dave online an article written by Dr Peter Harvey from Leeds cancer centre 

After treatment - what happens next ,it’s very good and goes some way to explain why you are still feeling like you do.

Hazel

This is indeed a brilliant article. 

it describes exactly how  I feel/felt. 

Thanks Hazel for posting it

Hi no problem ,glad it helped . It’s somewhere on my blog as well,but it just came  to me while reading Dave’s post.My big beef is how we are all told a matter of a few weeks there’s no one I know who is remotely feeling good within a few weeks. it’s thank heaven for the forums that we can get the message out ,defiantly going to mention to my oncologist when we have our review in January , maybe t(did wordings need changing, to something like some people may be lucky and in weeks start to feel good some may take a few months some might take a year or longer not just a blanket ok you’ve had your treatment ,go away and in a few weeks things will be ok. I’ve been lucky I had a Macmillan team who I could see weekly for first 7/8  weeks, plus I had 3 oncologist appointment s in the time ( think he was taking an interest in my blog from a patients point of view) which he still is has he has emailed me as well not often but it’s there . I know many people aren’t near to hospitals that run a separate head and neck clinic so rely on our rantings ! 

Hazel x

Inspired by you Hazel I’m starting my blog which is retrospective I admit but I’ll just be transferring my diary notes, warts and all. 

As you say, it’s communities like this one that can be a lifeline. I feel so sorry for people who are not in a place to join us. My oncologist did the business and I am eternally grateful for his skill but it’s the Macmillan nurses that supported me and people on here gave me perspective on what to really exoect