Welcome to OCF, Jeanne! Im very sorry you have need our group to help you and your husband with his oral cancer (OC). You have come to the right place to get info and support. Being a caregiver is a tough job! Make sure you set aside some time out of every week or day if possible just for you. I know its not easy having everything on your shoulders plus taking care of someone you love who is sick all while keeping a smile on your face and talking positively. Thats more than most people could do. Even if you go out to lunch with some friends, go to a movie or out for a drive it will make help clear your head and make you feel a little better.

The smaller weekly doses of chemo was a very good decision! Pay very close attention to any change in hearing your husband may complain about, even a slight buzzing needs to be reported to his medical team. There are other chemos that can be given but from what the research all has pointed to being the best is cisplatin.

One thing you both can work on is to focus on what is within your control. If you've read any of my posts, you will notice Im a big believer in a patients intake every single day hitting the minimum numbers of 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. It really is that important!!! If you can encourage your husband to take more in that will only help make all of this easier on him. When battling cancer, the patients body is burning up calories at an increased rate trying to fight the cancer and rebuild the body. I have nagged hundreds, maybe thousands of patients to pay close attention to their intake over the years since Ive recovered from my 3 rounds of OC. With your husband starting treatments very soon he needs to eat all his favorites and desserts too. If he is on the slim side putting on a few pounds would be a good idea. Its surprising when some patients need well over 5,000 calories a day to gain a couple pounds. When I was recovering from rads and chemo, I would frequently take in around 7,000 calories and didnt gain an ounce. I used to love having my gigantic chocolate peanut butter milkshakes. Eating all your husbands favorites now is a good idea as during rads, his sense of taste and ability to swallow will be compromised. Its only temporary but when going thru it, getting everything to go back to normal seems to take forever! The last thing your husband wants to do is to begin rads having cravings as its likely going to be a few months before he can manage whatever he was craving.

You mentioned your finances will be a challenge when your husband is being treated. This happens to many cancer patients, myself included. Ive added a link to the bottom of this post. Its to our main OCF site where you can find some organizations that offer financial assistance or certain services for cancer patients. It could take a while to apply or to meet a particular groups guidelines so you may want to begin looking into these things right away. I know the American Cancer Society has a volunteer drivers program that can help you by driving your husband to his treatments or doctor appointments. They also give either a $300 voucher at your local pharmacy to cover prescription co-pays or items from that store or reimburse you for costs associated with going back and forth to treatments. Theres paperwork for all their programs and it can take a little while so if you are interested, call right away. They're available 24/7. Most hospitals have programs you must ask about in order to get help to pick up co-pays, eliminate some bills, or give a discount off some of the bills. Some places even give charity care and will wipe out the entire bill for some situations. I always say... you gotta ask to get. You have nothing to lose by asking what programs are available at your husbands treatment center. I hope some of these places will help you and can take some of the financial burden off your shoulders.

One other thing you mentioned, your husbands voice. Many OC patients going thru rads will temporarily lose their voice near the end of their treatments. I lost mine for about 2 weeks. Its only a temporary issue so dont worry if this happens. Almost all will regain their voice in a few days or weeks.

Prior to starting any treatments, your husband should have a thorough dental check up, fluoride trays made, a complete blood test including thyroid and testosterone levels. It will seem like there are so many appointments. Once treatments begin it will settle into a routine.

Best wishes with everything!