Finished radiotherapy yuppie

Well done

Ah Marta! Yay, you've done it! Congratulations 

It sounds like the chemo was rough - I felt very nauseous after my 1st cisplatin for almost a week. I have my 2nd (and last) chemo on Monday ... I'm dreading it, but at least I know what to expect. So far I'm still eating/ swallowing. But I can't taste anything, which has affected my appetite of course. The Fortisip drinks will be very useful in the next few weeks I think.

I'm getting the Radio fatigue - I sleep very well these days, up to 10 hours

I had a RIG inserted last week (my hospital trust insits on the tube). It was very painful but slowly getting better and if I need it then I can get a lot of calories very easily. I haven't used it so far, just practiced with water, but it it's pretty easy.

My neck is red but not peeling. I'm using the Propolis cream (I hate the smell but it works like magic!). My mouth got sore in week 1 & 2 but felt better last week as I stopped using Duraphat toothpaste so often, just at night, it was burning my mouth, awful stuff!

I miss the taste of real food SO much.... I had lasagna tonight with veg and coleslaw - but they all tasted exactly the same  LOL!!

I'll be following how your progress goes, keep us posted xxx

So good to hear from you!

i think i was nauseous even with tablets against it.. grrr 

Specially after driving  

i asked oncologist and he ask me not to use anything he doesn’t know as we don’t know what is happening with radiotherapy. 
Anyway, i can use it now  

Milkshakes are ok, but they make me even more mucus yuk

good luck with all!

will be in touch x

Marta said:

i am not sure what to expect as everyone said next week can be very painfu

Hi Marta, well done.

The two/three weeks after treatment ends can be challenging as the radiotherapy has a residual effect for that long but in my experience and that of many others here the pain isn't any worse. For me things plateaued around four weeks and stayed there. I think, for me it was the disappointment that I wasn't going to get better straight away. Time to sleep and heal.

HMS said:

I miss the taste of real food SO much.... I had lasagna tonight with veg and coleslaw - but they all tasted exactly the same  LOL!!

Heavens! I am impressed. By end of week three I was using my NG tuber exclusively. 

Hi Marta well done and just hunker down for next 2-3 weeks , as Dani says the pain stabilise but you need to recover. This article might help it helped me and many others 

https://www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf

I spent the first 2 weeks feeding oral hygiene sleeping then start again with the same. 
You’ll get there we all do some quicker than others it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. 
At least no more daily hospital visits. 
Hazel xx

Hi,

My mum's been an inpatient since last Friday, got NG on Wednesday and RIG on Friday, but due to finish her radiotherapy on Tuesday and cannot wait until we don't have to visit the hospital anymore. Hoping for discharge on Tuesday so she can ring that bell after RT and come straight home.

She only managed 3/6 of the planned Cisplatins, hoping this won't effect overall results.

Planning for her to be quite sore/tired over the next week or so, how long do you think before her mouth will begin to feel a bit better? 

Greenzebra511 said:

She only managed 3/6 of the planned Cisplatins, hoping this won't effect overall results.

Planning for her to be quite sore/tired over the next week or so, how long do you think before her mouth will begin to feel a bit better? 

Hi. Missing chemo doesn’t matter too much so don’t worry. 
Looking at what other folk on here report most of us feel quite a bit better by six weeks and turn a real corner at twelve. 
It can take months for taste to return and for saliva to become less problematic 

Have a read of this excellent article to psychologist Dr Peter Harvey. It talks about recovery after cancer. It’s very useful. I printed out a few copies and handed them out to friends and family 

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

Well done you!  so glad to hear from you, I was thinking of you as didn't hear post week 3. Onwards and upwards from here. 

I start week 3 next week, no taste, stiffness in the neck and jaw but eating and drinking as normal for now. 

Keep us posted, speedy recovery to you. 

Keep going Heinze. That’s good that you’re still managing to eat.