Last week

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Hi everyone. I am in my last week of treatment.  4 more zaps snd counting.  But I do feel rubbish.  My mouth has so much phlegm.  I am managing to eat jellies/cream and weetabix so far.  I am excited to finish but also really really frightened of what happens next.  How bad am I going to feel. I know no one can tell me but I am scared that I won’t be able to breathe or swallow.   Can people please tell me their experiences snd what helped them through.  Any tips please!  I have read a lot of your stories which are all helpful and you all obviously did it. Thankyou Lizzie 123

  • Congratulations Lizzie. These last 4 days will fly by!
    I’m sure you realise from readings others’ accounts that the RT keeps working for a couple of weeks before it starts to heal inside. (Any external burns seem to start healing right away.) I never had any problem breathing, and swallowing got harder just because of the ulceration in there. My recovery was very much two steps forwards and one step back for a long time but overall that actually meant I was getting better. I could only swallow liquid foods for a couple of weeks but gradually it healed and I started eating more solid food. Taste gradually returned too.
    Getting out to do some exercise every day, even just a half hour walk, was a huge help both mentally and physically, even though often it was the last thing I felt like doing. Nearly 9 months on and I am fast getting back to normal. I have no pain and at the moment am drinking a glass of Pinot Grigio and eating Doritos in the garden. This would have been a distant dream not so long ago!
    As so many in here will testify, it does get better but you will need to be patient.
    All the very best. We are rooting for you Thumbsup

  • Oh wow.  Doritos and snd wine.   Seems unbelievable.  Thankyou so much for reply. I am in tears.   I just feel so low and scared at the moment.  What liquids were u on can I ask? Lizzie

  • I basically ate Ready Brek made with milk, Fortsips and cream, and various flavoured custard and soups for two or three weeks. I couldn’t taste a damned thing but it kept my weight up. I also had a timetable/ticklist for taking painkillers and other meds which I stuck to rigidly 24/7. As my wonderful neck nurse said, ‘try to stay ahead of the pain’. 
    Your body will use so many calories healing itself you’ll need to eat fattening things for a while. I’m now trying to lose weight - (notwithstanding wine and Doritos! I’m just celebrating it being such a lovely day!) It will get better Lizzie. Just give it time and try not to fret. 

  • Hi Lizzie you will continue to breathe so forget that. As for swallow if you’re still swallowing well done   now just carry on. Ot May get harder if you’ve a peg use it. Keep a record of pain killer like mark has said I also kept a note of hydration snd nutrition. Plus hunkered down for a few weeks snd slept a lot. Hubby had to get me up to feed. How bad you’ll feel no one can tell but no matter how bad you feel it will get better. Keep fixed on that though. Good luck with next zaps make sure you’re stocked up on painkillers snd food supplements you’ll need the calories to recover. We all get there. 
    a Good  article to read by Dr Peter Harvey 

    www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/.../After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf


    hazel xx

    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 

    https://www.instagram.com/merckhealthcare/reel/DBs8Y0niJ8N/

  • Well done on Dorito s and wine you thought you would never get there xx

    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 

    https://www.instagram.com/merckhealthcare/reel/DBs8Y0niJ8N/

  • Hi your nearly there and no feeding tube you will see a big difference in a couple of weeks like myself Iits one less thing to get over so proud and so brave you got this Thumbsup 

  • Hi Lizzie, the last week is the hardest- but you are doing really well! I was off solids completely in my last week and eating nothing but supplement drinks (cant even remember their name now).

    It isnt easy at first after treatment - but it improves gradually, 2 months after radio finished i was eating soft solids again- 4 months after radio i was enjoying those soft food- and by 6 months post treatment i was wolfing down roast dinners and putting weight back on.

    Everyone is different, but the fact you are doing so well in your last week is really positive.

  • Thankyou TrevW for your encouraging reply.   Thankyou to everyone else as well.  I must calm down and just get on with it.  Lizzie

  • Roast dinner.   I cannot wait!

  • Lizzie i just slept and read and watched the tele. Although the radiotherapy effects are cumulative and reach a peak 12/14 days after treatment finishes I didn’t actually feel worse, just knackered. By six weeks I was much better in body and head and by 12 weeks I managed a steak. You’ll get there. Nothing to be frightened of. You’ve done the hard bit. 

    Dani 

    Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019

    I BLOGGED MY TREATMENT 

    Macmillan Support Line -  0808 808 00 00 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

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