Hi, my husband is in week 3 of his treatment and having great difficulty eating, we put Ensure through his tube slowly but he brought it up again. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to what we could try fir him to eat please? Thank you

Is he better on it that way?

Hi. When I was having treatment the chap next to me had a feeding tube direct into stomach as he had so much trouble with an oral tube

We are all different. If I had been offered a stomach tube at the outset I would have taken it because that’s what the hospital told me to do. I was expecting one after reading up about it here. When I was told I would get an NG tube WHEN I needed it I just accepted that too. In hindsight I’m glad. The tube didn’t hurt and it came out the minute it wasn’t needed. 

Hi, my husband has just finished week 5 of radiotherapy he has  more week to go. He is being fed through the pump 10 hours a day. With the tube he was bringing the Ensure up as soon as he had it. He is still being sick and a lot of mucus is coming up as well. I have been told that ge will get worse when his radiotherapy finishes do you know if this is so please?

He is having a real tough time at moment but compares himself to our daughter who we lost to Cervical Cancer when she was 25., saying what must she have gone through as she had chemo as well. He tries hard not to complain but I can see how he is feeling.

How long dies the pump feeding go on after finish of treatment .

I am new to this contacting people for advice as wasn’t even sure if I was in the right place to speak to either carers or people having gone through this.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you 

He has Squamus Cell I think that’s how to spell it

Hi! I was so sorry to hear about your daughter and then now your husband is suffering so much too. I tried using the pump but went back to the syringe method. Were you just letting gravity do the work with the food or were you using the plunger? I ask because I did that to start with and gave up because it made me feel sick. I also had bouts of terrible sickness (caused I think by the mucus) but that has subsided. I am 2 weeks post treatment. The general opinion is that things tend to get worse for a while after treatment finishes. I haven’t managed to eat or drink anything yet so your husband may well be the same. I don’t know if any of this is helpful but I’m happy to answer any questions if I can.        Susan 

Hi. So so sorry about your daughter. I can only imagine the turmoil and heartache.

Can your husband manage to swill his mouth free of the mucous, and maybe even sip a little water? If not no worries. The mucous can be tackled with a nebuliser or head over a bowl of steam a few times a day and a humidifier in the bedroom at night can be useful too. I had my NG tube in place for 8 weeks and for six of those it was my only conduit for nutrition. I fed at night via pump, sleeping sitting up.

Plenty of hydration helps to clear the mucous too. I had a lot of nausea throughout and just managed to swallow it down in the end. I was given metoclopramide for it and with hindsight I should have asked for something different. It might be something you can talk to his CNS about.

RT goes on working for a few weeks after treatment finishes, yes so it's best to expect little improvement for three weeks or so. Generally people appear out of the fog at around six weeks and turn a real corner at 12

Good luck to your husband.....he'll get there.

Hi all, 

I am heartbroken my husband had a fall Thursday morning due to low blood pressure, he was taken to A and E and given a blood transfusion the had an overload and a stroke. He passed away on the earlyours of Friday morning the day he was to have his last radiotherapy. I was so looking forward to ringing getting my husband to “ Ring that Bell” This didn’t happen, heart broken!

Oh I am so sorry. You must indeed be beside yourself with grief. 
I hope you have somebody to be with. It all seems so unfair after all you have been through together. 
Please accept my most profound sympathy and sorrow. 

I am so very sorry to hear that. How heartbreaking for that to happen at the end of therapy when you were so close to ringing the bell. Please accept my sincere condolences for your loss. 
Susan