Recovery what to expect

Hi M...well done....you've done remarkably well.

Radiotherapy effects are cumulative and reach their peak two or three weeks after treatment stops so you actually get worse for a little while. A sort of rule of thumb for a lot of us here is that by six weeks things are looking up a little and by 12 weeks there is a definite corner turned. After that most of us are pretty good by six months and improvements tend to continue to two years plus. I'm at three years and still find things getting better.

Our mouths and throats and saliva are never as they were but manageable. I took a course of acupuncture to help my salivary function and chewing gum stimulated what was left anyway. By a year I could eat a bacon sandwich without taking water. Things are largely back to normal.

We are all different though.

Best of luck and keep in touch

I had the same and my treatment ended 13 months ago. As Dani says, it gets worse for a couple of weeks after the RT ends and then the recovery begins. It’s tiny steps at a time, and even seems to go backwards some days, but it does improve. My throat still feels raw inside where my tonsil was, although not painful at all, and my neck is still stiff and sensitive so I still do twice daily exercises to try to keep it supple, and to keep the lymphodema at bay. You need to hunker down for the next few weeks and concentrate on taking your meds religiously (stay ahead of the pain, don’t chase it) getting out for daily exercise, keep taking the laxatives (seriously!) and get as many calories into yourself as possible - Ready Brek, custard and double cream, as well as Fortisips, were my staples for the first three weeks or so, It will get better! 

I'm really glad MarkEL is still around. He has a brilliant  DIARY HERE

I have a few bits in my blog linked below but not in any real detail....

Hi M

Sounds like you have fared better than I did. I kept eating all through treatment and suddenly day 1 past treatment could no longer swallow. I existed in a morphine haze for 3 weeks.

Having said that, 10 1/2 months on (my chemo rt started a year ago tomorrow) life is just about normal. Back working, went out for Sunday lunch yesterday. 

Mouth drier than normal, haw gets stiff, alcohol doesn't agree tgst much with me and still wary of daily/ acidic food. Otherwise life is normal. 

My blog is linked in my bio (not this time in the Macmillan blogs) , #12 is the entry for this phase. 

Best of luck, Gill

Thank you all for the messages, i managed to go out for a meal with a friend yesterday and managed a steak with chips lots of gravy, things are becoming easier to eat day by day. Though my skin is now starting to glow red where the treatment was the aloe is now getting applied alot more regularly and it seems to be calming down.

Started doing my 6 mile walks yesterday to get fitness back that along side training in the gym and lots of yoga.

Thank you all for the messages, i managed to go out for a meal with a friend yesterday and managed a steak with chips lots of gravy, things are becoming easier to eat day by day. Though my skin is now starting to glow red where the treatment was the aloe is now getting applied alot more regularly and it seems to be calming down.

Started doing my 6 mile walks yesterday to get fitness back that along side training in the gym and lots of yoga.

Blooming 'ec! a week after RT and you've eaten steak and chips? I think you have little to worry about regarding recovery. You've managed in a week what it takes most people 6 months. Brilliant. Onwards and forwards the job now.

Wow!  That's amazing M!  Congratulations.

Onwards and upwards at an incredible rate.  Do pace yourself though.

All the best.

Linda x

Like the others have said your recovery is amazing M.hard, it just goes to show how differently we recover and how the side effects differ. Im worn out just reading your post wishing you all the best.

                                                               Chris. 

Thank you all for your replys. You all are amazing.

an update as now i have stopped taking any pain meds beginning of the week, starting to get back to eating more normal food, managed a cheese and ham toasty the other day, we all know the ones that shell sell lol. Skin is healed now, just need to work on getting the range of movement back in my jaw. 

Walks are going well, weight training now back on track, i can still out lift 90% most people in the gym. Seen some friends for the first time in years and they cannot actually belive it has happened especially when i still out lift them.

If anyone wants any advice on fitness at all please feel free to message me as i built my training plan to get through this and my training recovery plan to get back to where i was before it all happened.

Or just want someone to talk to in those dark days thow me a message. As i will try and help.