My hubby has completd his 35 RT and 5 chemos. Beginning to get his energy back and throat and mounth are no longer sore. He is swallowing and has begun eatting. Taste buds are still not his friend, as nothing tastes good to him right now. He still has his PEG and is thinking about getting rid of it at the end of this month, or sooner. We are scheduled to see the ENT doctor on May 23rd and we hope he will order a PET. Anxiously awaiting to find out if all of the cancer has been destroyed. Energy level is not the best and hubby is not happy about his loss of saliva and loss of taste. Hoping they will get better.

Gianna,

Yes our recovery is a very slow process and can take up to 2 years to reach our new normal, whatever that will be for him. I was weak as a kitten for months post Tx and it was 4 months before I saw any improvement to my saliva and taste as I think their improvements go hand and hand. It was not until 15 months post that I finally was satisfied with my new taste and I even saw a slight improvement at the 24 month mark so my advice is to tell him to not expect miracle fast improvements and just go with the flow.

yes, I seconf Dave's advise. Loooooong road back. Measured in months, not days. Sometimes it seems that it is so slow, quite frustrating. Just keep on moving forward. Many things will come back, never the same as it once was. But good!!!
at 20 Months, I am still eating challanges and the taste buds are all over the place. My saliva in OK and I am back to being quite active. Just remind your husband, it will take a bunch of months but he will get back!

Steve

I agree it takes time - it's funny but not - I went into this with fairly open eyes - I knew what to expect post radiation and chemo and explained it to my husband - but he doesn't seem to get it. I guess he figures since treatment has ended I would begin to feel better - but despite me saying it's going to take me months to get back to my new normal - it doesn't jive mentally with hat he sees - I mean other than talking and eating - I look - ok! But I have no energy ( though I'm trying to kick it up a notch by walking and being semi active ) but once I've done something like laundry and walked the dog - I'm fried for 2 hours.

It's a long road to recovery - I too have food issues - my throat is still a little sore so I'm not really pushing actual foods though I have been trying fruits now and then - plus when nothing has any taste - there's just a desire to fill your tummy ( with ensure) and be done with it.

Good luck - it just takes time to heal.

I am exactly 2 years ahead of you husband. One piece of advice is to keep that PEG a bit longer. I got rid of mine too soon and continued to loose weight and have malnutrition issues. Food wasn't a friend for quite awhile; infact, for more that a year post treatment I had to remind myself to eat. Eating and food are still not high on my priority list - but I do feel it is improving. It is almost a mental thing to just get to the point where you eat because you have to and you do not expect alot from it as far as taste goes. But with that said - when your husband does find something he likes - just let him eat all the time if he wants. To heck with variety. I ate Fish Spread made with dolphin (fish) almost exclusively for 3 months. As far as saliva goes - I can lick an envelope and actually spit. Tell him it gets better!