Chemotherapy/radiation Treatment completed today

Hi Micheal, well done in getting through your treatment, great news. It will depend on how badly you react and what area it was done, I got through it okish yet others struggled. I don't think its much longer than two/three weeks. Im sure someone who did suffer will give you a more precise time. Fingers crossed you are like me. All the best for the rest of your recovery, take care.

                                                                    Chris 

Hi Michael

i had quite awful mucositis so it was six weeks till I was confident enough to eat properly and have my NG tube out. I slept largely for those first two weeks but just as I did in RT I dragged myself outside fir exercise every day. I was lucky enough to lose hardly any weight, just a couple of kg. For a few weeks I was pump fed over night so that I didn’t have to bother too much about actually getting enough nutrition in the day. That way I could play with food I could actually swallow. Ice cream went down nicely even though I couldn’t taste it. After that six weeks it was steps forward every day, slowly slowly. At 14 months ex treatment I am fairly normal apart from saliva and taste. 

Hang on in there. 

Have a read if this excellent article about life after treatment by Peter Harvey 

www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/.../After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf

Hi Chris 

Thanks for the reply I have set the goal to myself that I will not need the tube. I am limited to what I can get down. So let’s see where this goes. I have severe burns on my neck which has to have the dressing changed daily,my wife has stepped up to the plate and doing a great job. They wanted to send the district nurse(due to the size of the damage) but due to Coronavirus situation we decided to take that part on ourselves. 

Cheers Michael

Hi Dani 

Thanks for the post you Mentioned Doctor Banner in one of your posts, he is my Oncologist at Singleton.

cheers Michael 

Aha, excellent. You’re in good if eccentric hands. 
Not seeing him till June and maybe not even then. Who knows. 
I have a picture of his beaming face off his Rutherford bio on my blog. 

Keep well Michael. You’re a brave man keeping eating.

Michael RSA

just a PS

did you have radiotherapy twice? 

Yes my first bout with SCC was about three years ago so I had chemotherapy and radiology treatment but I was so ill I can’t remember too much about it.

Hi Michael RSA

Congrats on finishing your treatment for a 2nd time. Well done you!!

I didn’t realise you could have radiotherapy to the same area twice.

My hubby initially said he wouldn’t use his PEG but he ended up using it for everything and it was lifesaver.

He is 10 weeks post treatment now and stopped using the PEG about 3 weeks ago. He’s now just desperate to have it removed but of course Corona came along!! We might just take it out ourselves!

To get back to your original question....I noticed a turning point for Ken at about 5 weeks post treatment.

He lost just over 2 stone. He kept up his Fortisips and drinks them now instead of putting them through his tube.

It was a tough road, I can’t lie about that, but he did it!

good luck and keep us posted xx

Hi Sharon

The first treatment was on the left side and second on the right. Both were Radical Neck Dissection glutton for punishment eh?

Cheers Michael