Throat Cancer

Hi Arlene. Welcome to our club that none  of us want to join. I first noticed my lump around March but was May before I was diagnosed treatment didn’t start until mid July. I personally wouldn’t worry . I’m 3 year s post radiotherapy now happily living my life. 5 weeks delay isn nothing they need time to plot your personalised treatment.
Good luck with week 2 just bear in mind pain might start increasing soon so make sure you’ve painkillers to hand. 

If we can help just ask. 
Hazel 

Arlene. Welcome back. 
Try not to worry. Five weeks will make no difference at all. 
I went to my GP mid August and didn’t start treatment till mid December. 
Once a week your RT team scan your tumour to make sure they are in target. You might notice that one treatment a week takes a little longer while they check. So chill. They have it sussed. 
Next week your side effects will start ramping up so make sure you’re armed with some decent pain relief and something to take care of your mouth. Gelclair, Caphosol and Difflam are the mouthwashes to ask about. 
Best of luck 

Thank you. The pain has started to get bad my morphine has been upped and so has my pregablin. Oh and the tiredness. Yeah loads of pain relief and have caposol. But thinking about getting another mouthwash. 
love arlene 

I have also starting as if my throat is closing up sometimes. I really don’t know if this is serious. Has anybody else experienced this. Love Arlene

Hi Arlene. All this is normal I'm afraid. Your throat will get very painful, swollen and be full of ulcers. Try not to panic.

I got some relief by taking my morphine fifteen minutes before food and swishing it round my mouth before swollowing.

Soluble aspirin, gargle then spit can be useful too. Don't try that with soluble paracetamol...it's too painful.

There is also a preparation called Antacid with Oxetecaine which is like Gaviscon with local anaesthetic . You gargle then swallow. Tell your RT team tomorrow how you are feeling.Stronger pain relief is available. If the pain relief is titrated properly all this is bearable, though very unpleasant.

The radiation does make you very very tired and with the morphine on top it floors you. Just go with it and don't fight it. A short walk, maybe just round the garden or round the block will help even if you have to force yourself. Then make yourself a nice little nest on the sofa......sleep, read, watch rubbish tele...time to catch up on box sets. I read book after book on my Kindle. It took me away from this world for a while.

Do you have PEG fitted? It might be time to think about supplementing  what you are eating. If you haven't then do let your team know you are struggling. You need to keep your weight up to help the treatment work.

Keep Going, it's worth it and if I can do it....so can you

Best wishes 

PS

It's a good idea to get into the routine of involving your radiographers. You see them every day so tell them what's happening, how you feel. They are your liaison with the rest of your medical team

Hi Arlene I can’t add much to the excellent advise Dani has given you. Apart from I had a humidifier in bedroom at night and a nebuliser I used during the day to help ease my throat and mouth. What you’re going through is unfortunately par for the course. But take heart from many of us still on here 3 years for me it does work. It’s hard I can’t lie but if I could do it so can you. Just make sure you liaise with your radiotherapy team daily they are your first point of contact. 
Good luck 

Hazel

Good to hear that your treatment is well underway Arlene.
Just be aware that if you’re upping your morphine you are at high risk of constipation. I had it very badly as a result of the morphine and can honestly say it was the most painful and miserable aspect of my whole recovery. If you’re not already doing so you might want to try to keep on top of it by taking a couple of sachets of Movicol (or Laxido - it’s the same thing) each day. I had mine prescribed by my gp but you can buy the exact same stuff over the counter. 
Good luck with Week 3. It’ll be good to have it all done by Christmas. M

MarkEL said:

Just be aware that if you’re upping your morphine you are at high risk of constipation. I had it very badly as a result of the morphine and can honestly say it was the most painful and miserable aspect of my whole recovery.

On that very subject I wonder how many of us get laxatives routinely?  Mine came bundled with the morphine from the hospital pharmacy; a giant box of it. 

I wasn’t given any laxatives to bring home from hospital. I was aware that I was being given a daily laxative called Lactulose as a syrup in the days after my surgery but had no advice to continue taking anything other than the pain relief and Fortisips once home.
The constipation hit me like an express train a couple of days later and it took the whole day of going back and forth to my gp on the phone before we cleared it with the maximum dose of Laxido that evening. I cannot begin to describe the ecstasy of relief once it shifted!