Worried about how to deal with husbands condition after treatment

After treatment for head and neck cancer, his in and out of sleep, his voice is still not improving and he has a worryingly cough. Will any of these get better?

Hi and welcome. 
yes things will improve but slowly. 
Common milestones are six weeks when you feel quite a bit better, 12 weeks when we turn a corner and six months when we begin to feel more like our old selves. 
But we are are all different and unique

Tell us where his cancer was, what treatment he had and when he finished. 
That might help us tailor our advice a little 

Thank you for your reply. It is very much appreciated. My husband only finished his treatment 2weeks ago,30 rounds of radio and 2 rounds of chemo (all day ones). He couldn't have any surgery.The loss of weight,as he has a PEG fitted, is worrying by itself, but listening to the cough scares me most, is it normal?  And he seems to be in and of sleep alot.How life be the same ?

I slept for two weeks after treatment ended. Radiotherapy reaches its peak around 2/3 weeks after it’s finished so your husband is around that time. It really is far too early to be doing anything else but resting. A short walk out in the fresh air will do him good though 

Did he have tonsil cancer? Was the radiation aimed at his throat? It does a lot of damage and coughing is pretty normal. Can he sip any fluids? Has he got a lot of thick sticky phlegm? 
He will get better. Aim for that first six weeks. 
With a PEG he shouldn’t lose any weight. He should be getting 3000/3500 calories a day in 

Is he pump fed or have you got bottles of Ensures/Fortisips. 
If the latter he should be getting 7/8 in a day

When is his next consultant’s appointment? 

Hi MRSMM

I finished chemoradio in June 2023.....2 weeks is fairly short in terms of recovery time needed....

I was PEG tube fed...lost 16kg in weight over a couple of weeks   which was worrying at the time but with the help of the oncology teams and ward staff I soon managed to stabilise my weight.

Cough was a fact of life for a while...goes with the territory...voice should return in time...sleep is part of the healing process, our bodies require rest to recover.

Useful link....Side effects (after treatment) - Radiotherapy

Peter

Thank you so much for your message, with 6weeks of radiotherapy,including 2rounds of chemotherapy, to treat throat cancer, behind us,  we only got told that recovery can take time, with each patient recovering differently,  not knowing what side effects we were facing didn't get mentioned as much.But it sounds like that my husband is going roughly the way you had to to get better. How is life for you now if you don't mind me asking?

Mel

Hello, thank you so much for your message. My husband had cancer on the bottom of his tongue,which only got discovered when a lump appeared on his neck, he lost alot of weight,about 17kgs,he has a PEG fitted ,which seems a common way for patients in this situation,we also got given a feeding pump for over night feed, however, the Ensures bottles seem to work the best,also with him sleeping alot at the moment, he doesn't get as many as he should, he tries sipping liquids and the odd spoon full of soft foods.Follow up appointments seem to arrive one by one, blood appointment, CT scan appointment is due in about 2wks, speech therapist/nutritionist is due next week. The next appointment with the consultant is not due till February, I guess that's when we actually find out how the treatment went and where we are. If all this makes sense.

Mel

Hi Mel

T2N1M0 HPV16+ Tonsil cancer.... 30 radio and 4 chemo...age 68

October/November 2023 4 months after finishing Chemoradio I felt well enough to go to Tenerife for a couple of weeks...started playing golf again and going swimming.

I now have a healthy BMI...PET/CT scans were clear....3 monthly reviews have been satisfactory...

Chemoradio does have side effects ...unavoidable for most but these lessen with time....for many months most of us find that we have physical/mental issues as a result of the treatment we have been subjected to ...it is a very harsh treatment regime...takes a lot out of most of us.

My appetite and taste is now back to about 90% ..enjoying my food ...and alcohol free beer...been on a few sunshine breaks....

Recovery will seem like a long way off....but it just takes time...other forum posters will testify to this

Peter

Hi Mel.

Can you feed him with the Ensures? 
if you look at my blog I mention that’s what my husband did. 
I think I simply said I slept for two weeks and my husband kept me alive. 
I managed to keep my weight up through treatment. My dieticians were constantly on my case and that was a good thing. I put my uncomplicated recovery down to proper nutrition. The body as a whole takes a real battering from this. 
I did lose a little in those two weeks though. 

Your husband will get  a diagnostic MRI or PET/CT some time between 12/20 weeks to check the treatment has worked. 
I don’t quite know why he is getting the CT you mention unless his pre treatment one threw something up that needs checking. 
Mine did. The scan showed up two lung nodules which had to be checked again after treatment 

Hello again,  I am so grateful for you sharing your story and well done for your recovery. Also we won't be going on a big holiday after all this, we were supposed to move house before all this, so that will be on our to do list first and maybe afterwards we will have a break away. We have the first follow up appointments around the corner,speech therapist/nutritionist, you probably remember these, however, our first CT scan in a couple of weeks is making me nervous,not knowing were we stand at the moment. But knowing that everything my husband is going through at the moment seems 'normal' is reassuring, if you know what I mean.Thank you again for sharing your story. Best wishes  Melanie