Edit - Hmm, think I posted this in the wrong place. I think I saw Updates postings somewhere......
After my “Constipation” post 
I thought I’d give a general update if any of you are wondering how he’s getting on! Well, the good news is – well, pretty much all good news at the moment.
After a rather traumatic week of himself deciding to go cold turkey on all medication, saying he’d rather suffer the pain than suffer from the effects of the medication, he seems to have settled in the last day or so.
Phlegm/mucous is much less and a good deal looser. I was a little worried for a few nights as he woke up unable to breathe! But as others have said, a few days after the end of RT, I noticed it wasn’t worse and breathing was easier.
Skin on the neck has healed up nicely. Still applying E45 twice or three times a day and will do for a while, I suppose. The lower throat is still extremely sensitive, so the mouthwashes and gargling and Gelclair are in frequent use to try and get that sorted – at least for a little variety in the diet. But the food is hit and miss – avocado fine one day, not the next. And the same with everything except breakfast (porridge oats) and dinner (scrambled eggs), so next week we plan to try a few basic foods that should be okay and keep them in a loop if they have been okay for at least one meal and try, try again.
Swallowing is an issue, but that seems to be mostly linked to the tonsillectomy and the fact that it is impossible to stop some liquid seeping down when gargling. I suppose that the body will deal with that in time. Still takes forever to eat a small meal - up to half an hour.
His hair looks a bit odd though. Bald from the nape to almost the crown and across from ear to ear. But there seems to be signs already that it might be growing back……(a bit wishful on my part, perhaps!)
Digestion isn’t perfect, but good enough for now. Appetite is small, but no further weight loss apparent since the four days of loss after throwing the drugs out. Hoping to gain a bit soon.
But the next appointment isn’t until Feb 22nd, which seems quite a long way off and a big gap before someone actually sees him in person. So he’s going to the GP tomorrow to get his blood checked – it was the only thing mentioned in the last review at the hospital. The white cell count was down, but not flagged at all. We were just advised to avoid crowded areas and give it a couple of weeks.
Onwards and upwards.
Cheers everyone!
Hi. That all sounds excellently on track. I had to do double or triple swallows when I was recovering. I guess my swallow muscles needed a little exercise.
Usual first oncology follow up is around six weeks. I should imagine in the present nhs climate they might be pushing that out a bit.
I lived on Ready Brek when I first started eating but it sounds as if he’s doing very much better.
Well done Mr A.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
His hair looks a bit odd though. Bald from the nape to almost the crown and across from ear to ear. But there seems to be signs already that it might be growing back……(a bit wishful on my part, perhaps!)
Yes same with me. It’s where the X-ray beam leaves the body and damages the hair follicles on its way out. It grows back though
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
