Husband has inoperable lung cancer. Hoping for help with side effects from radiotherapy.

Good morning 

So very sorry to hear about your husband. This sounds just like it was for me. I couldn't stand the taste of the shakes the dietician gave me and I really struggled to get anything down, even water as my throat was just so sore. I lost a lot of weight. Then I was prescribed a short course if steroids which were like a miracle for me. Within a few days I actually had an appetite and slowly began to eat again which increased my energy levels and I felt so much better. It may be worth talking to his nurse specialist about it. 

Hope he starts to feel better very soon.

• Thank you RainbowRobins. It just helps to know that this is not an unusual side effect. I am monitoring his weight closely and I’ll bear in mind your advice about steroids. During chemo he had steroids and he did have a good appetite. Currently his main problem is pain on swallowing so he just doesn’t want to eat or drink. Thanks again. Cool username by the way!

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's lack of appetite and I can understand your worry.   I wonder if you might think to tempt him with your own delicious and nutritious soups made from home-cooked fresh vegetables whizzed with a hand-held blender or in a food processor.  Root veg such as carrots, sweet potato, new potatoes, maybe butternut squash, and add broccoli, spinach, kale, and chicken or bacon and flavoured with vegetable stock. You could freeze these purees in an icecube tray and defrost/warm up a cube or two, diluted with boiled water to the consistency he might find easier to swallow when he might be persuaded to eat a little something.  I'm not keen on those milk-based adult formulas which are basically a mix of micronutrients and artificial flavourings to which you add milk. My sons have jokingly said that if I'm naughty they will feed them to me when I'm old..... If your husband does like milk (I don't ....) you could maybe make your own smoothies and shakes, from milk, bananas, raspberries, other fruits, add cream for extra calories.... or your own home-made icecream from egg-holks, honey and cream.  

Thank you so much for getting in touch. I like the idea of freezing small ice cube sized soup bases. I read on a forum that  someone else suggested doing that with rice pudding too so that he could just let it melt in his mouth. He might cope better with much smaller amounts of anything I guess. I really appreciate the advice. 

Hi Thornaby  I am so sorry to hear that your husband is going through this. I really do know what he is going through as I also had radiotherapy. Once the treatment has stopped, the radiation continues to build up in your body, and stays in your body for several weeks. Because the radiation burns internally, it really does make eating impossible. The oesophagus needs cooling down, ice cream, ice lolly’s, ice cubes will help. Before I tried to eat, I would suck on an ice cube first, to cool my oesophagus before I tried to eat. I would also just eat soft food, but try and keep the food cool and not hot. Maybe have an ice cube, then try a fortisip but get him to drink it through a straw so it’s just little sips. 

This will ease. I would think that the radiation is probably peaking which is why he is suffering so much at the moment. It will gradually begin to ease off, and he will start to feel the pain subsiding. It is a horrible thing to go through, the pain is something you can’t really explain, other than it feeling like an internal burn. The good thing is, when I had my first scan post radiotherapy, my tumour had shrunk by 50%, and continued to shrink as the months went on. 

Hope it eases for him soon. 

Thank you so much. You’ve given me some good tips there. I’ll suggest the ice cubes to him as he has managed half an ice lolly. We could also try ice pops. I’m going to purée some fruit and make lollies or just freeze it into cubes. Little and often is the way forward. Hopefully he’ll get the Fortisip today. I’m so glad I came on this forum. I didn’t realise just how isolated I’ve been feeling until reading about other people’s experiences. I hope you are keeping well. 

I’m glad you have found us! I haven’t put a lot about my radiotherapy treatment on my profile, but if you want to read mine, or anybody else’s story, then just click on our profile picture and it will take you to our profile page. I am currently waiting scan results. I had the CT last week,  but my appointment isn’t until the end of Feb! The wait never gets easier! 

Thank you Chellesimo for sharing some of your experiences with me. I didn’t know about clicking on profile pics to learn more about individuals. I am glad I have taken the time to read yours. My word. You have lived with cancer for so long, with ups and some very deep downs, yet you have within yourself this well of kindness for others. I can see why you are a community champion. I am grateful. 

My husband was having 4 fortisips a day, only vanilla flavour, helped him.

Hi, I was in a similar position around Christmas after radiation to the neck. I ended up pouring it onto ice cubes and drinking through a straw. It started getting better after two weeks and now I'm eating normally again so hang on in there. A PEG feeding tube is also an option If nothing else works. Talk to your doctor.

All the best

Patrick