Hi,
You are definitely at the right place. I didn't find the site until the end of our radiation. By then it was just awful and I needed to know that was normal. It was and I was so relieved. It was very hard to watch Kevin go through it, but just knowing it WOULD get better made it easier to endure.
The hardest weeks are the last one of radiation and the next few after you're finished. I have posted before that one of the things that surprised us was how bad the burns were on the outside of Kevin's neck. The entire right side was just raw. We treated it a couple times a day with Silvadene cream and within 10 days or so the majority was healed. We bandaged it and put a wrap around to hold the bandage on because tape was right out. The wrap was given to us by the RO nurse. It made it easier to wear shirts because it kept them from rubbing.
Not sure what he is eating, but scrambled eggs and Ensure were an every day occurence. There were a couple of days when nothing would go down so he used the Peg a bit, but he really hated it so pushed himself to drink the Ensure. He would take pain meds and drink quickly. The Lortab worked fast so was ideal for eating.
There were so many days I would get in the shower and cry. It seemed all my good friends just disappeared when we were diagnosed so it was a lonely place. His family was somewhat supportive, but only wanted to hear the happy things so I couldn't vent there. Our MO and RO nurses were a wonderful support as well as the social worker at our center. They just let me weep or gripe or whatever with no judgement. That's what we need. A soft place to fall.
Then I met everyone on here and it was such a HUGE relief!!
We are here for you. Please know we understand. Kevin and I just completed tx at the end of October, so it's pretty fresh.
Blessings to you on the rest of your journey.
Kathy