Halfway through treatment

Hello. I’m 8 months post treatment for right tonsil & lymph node hpv positive. I had bilateral tonsillectomy & part of tongue removed on Jan 4th then 6 weeks of chemoradiation.  30x radio & 6x chemo. I used my PEG from week 4 of treatment for water, meds & feeding. I had a small pump which linked up to my PEG at night to drip feed 2-3000 calories overnight. It was a godsend as I couldn’t swallow more than a few sips of water. I used Caphosol mouthwash plus Difflam I took codeine , paracetamol & morphine. All meds went via PEG Try not to be scared. Yes it will get more challenging but use your PEG for feeding- speak to dietician about a pump, ask for oramorph or morphine patches to get on top of the pain. 
Macmillan offer counselling over the phone - I had several sessions post treatment to help me through a difficult patch. 
This forum is great. Ask anything & someone always has fabulous advice. 

Hi PP

Blod's mention of using a pump is what I did and it made a world of difference. Plenty of people don't finish their chemotherapy for one reason or another. The chemo acts as a sensitiser making the RT (the main event) more effective but not by much. I didn't have chemo at all.

Have a word with your oncologist. They might be able to let you off the rest 

Use the Peg for food.

I had a pump which drip fed me overnight. It made life so much more bearable.

I had Caphosol, Difflam and Gelclair and I used corsodyl alcohol free last thing before bedtime. It stung like billyo for 30 seconds but kept all the bacteria and yeasts away from my mouth. I took my oramorph and paracetamol by the clock with long acting morphine twice a day for background pain. It made the last few weeks manageable.

Best of luck

Thank you for your advice Blod. Much appreciated. I will speak to the team tomorrow at the hospital to get some more help. 

Thanks for your advice and tips. I will follow them up. Much appreciated. 

Hi I was due to have 3  infusions  of cisplatin my oncologist does 3 large doses instead of 5 smaller Ines in the end I didn’t have the last one. In conjunction with oncologist we decided better not to have it. he did say at least 60% of his patients don’t complete  the course so don’t stress it’s the radiotherapy that the main even .Have a talk with them and see what they say. Saline rinses helped me along with baking powder at a ratio of 1 1 litre  water 1 teaspoon salt same baking powder rinse and spit. Also for ulcers ask for gelclair. Don’t look too far in advance take it ine day at a time. 

Ask in her we will all try to help. 
Hazel x

Thank you for the advice. Really useful to know. I will speak the team at the hospital tomorrow.