Just signed up to this chat group. Not one for sharing normally but feel I’ve reached breaking point. My husband is undergoing chemo & immunotherapy for laryngeal cancer. It has been the darkest and most difficult time of our lives. He’s had 4 rounds of chemo (2 more to go). At the start of treatment he had 2 hemorrhages resulting in an emergency tracheotomy being performed. The trachy is uncomfortable and brings up a lot of mucus which causes him to cough incessantly, it’s gotten worse lately. He can barely speak He’s also had a RIG inserted as he has difficulty swallowing, so no solid food the last 3 months. The chemo and meds he’s on causes him to feel chronically fatigued and drugged up all the time. The suffering and pain he has been going through has been unbearable; it’s been one setback after another, full of complications, with insignificant signs of improvement. He’s normally such a positive person with bundles of energy and always active but this illness and treatment has taken everything away from him causing him so much pain and suffering leaving him unable to do the simplest of things and feeling very depressed. I feel like we’ve reached breaking point but there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been a relentlessly difficult, lengthy and painful journey. Mentally I don’t feel as if I can cope any more. I cannot unburden to well meaning friends especially when everything in their lives are going so well. I just feel resentment and anger, depressed and alone dealing with all of this.
Hi, just thought I'd say hello. I'm also struggling but not on the scale you are experiencing. I'm 66 and I have a form of skin cancer/melonoma which was in three places on my scalp. This resulted in 80% of my scalp being removed and it now looks like a crater. I can't go out or won't go out, I feel like a freak and I am so angry myself that within a few months it's all change. I now feel a bit of a cheat having listened to your problems and I do wish you well.
Hello and welcome from me. Sorry you have had to come on here, but we all understand what you are going through. I know my wife took my diagnosis far worse than I did and I probably did not make things easier for her, but we got through it.
I am sure Macmillan can offer you some emotional support and a charity called The Swallows run by a fellow H&N cancer survivor and his wife would be an excellent first point of contact to help you through this. I don't think I am allowed to post a link, but Google "The Swallows". For me it comes first in the Google search results page.
Peter
See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey
Hi Shanna welcome from me Peter has given excellent advise Chris and his wife Sharon run an excellent service.Please give them a call. Cancer treatment to head and neck is pretty brutal my oncologist said he would take a year out of my life but he would cure me he did both. It’s often harder for our other half’s ,we are the ones who are centre of attention my husband just got on with it. But I did try to make sur he was ok we did have a few words during the recovery period and we don’t have words !!
My blog is www.radioactiveraz.wordpress.com HPV 16+ tonsil cancer Now 6 years post treatment. 35 radiotherapy 2 chemo T2N2NM.Happily getting on with living always happy to help
2 videos I’ve been involved with raising awareness of HNC and HPV cancers
Hi to Peter and Hazel, I really want to apologise for posting my problems with melonoma/skin cancer, feel really bad to have entered the community. I've left the site and again apologies if any offence caused.
Thanks for the support, I mentioned to Peter I would look into it. Just needed to vent a bit. And good to share others experiences dealing with this type of cancer, you’re right, it’s brutal.
Hi Smarty. Don’t be silly cancer is cancer it’s not a competition. Yours sounds just as horrific. Please please don’t beat yourself up We are all one big family helping each other along the way. hugs Hazel
Hazel aka RadioactiveRaz
My blog is www.radioactiveraz.wordpress.com HPV 16+ tonsil cancer Now 6 years post treatment. 35 radiotherapy 2 chemo T2N2NM.Happily getting on with living always happy to help
2 videos I’ve been involved with raising awareness of HNC and HPV cancers
No need to apologise and leave the forum. I am so sorry to hear of your struggles and what you are going through. We are a kind and friendly group here. we all understand how after treatments can make us feel and the difficulties they cause us. We are here because we want to listen, share and help each other.
Smarty, if you do read this... there is no need to apologise. We all have difficult emotional aspects to our cancers and part of the godsend that is this group is the ability to offload and gain support from others who understand.
Peter
See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey
