My husband is 12 weeks out of treatment, he is experiencing severe sore throat, thick gagging mucus, can't sleep, extreme fatigue. Does anyone have advice or tips on how to get him through this phase? Thank you, Callie.

Hello Callie!

The insomnia and extreme fatigue is more than likely caused by opiate pain medication, although the fatigue has several causes (high cortisol levels due to stress response, poor nutrition uptake due to immune response, loss of lean muscle mass due to all of the previous, depression etc), something that helped me was vaporizing marijuana. The sleep aides like Ambien and Lunesta were worthless and actually had horrible side effects for me.

The heavy mucous can be treated with a rinse of baking soda and salt water although I never remember the exact ratios, I'm sure someone will be along shortly that does though. The sore throat can be tackled with Magic Mouthwash which has lidocaine in it, available from your Dr.

Hope that helps, hang in there my dear.

Eric



Admin note--*** 16 oz warm water, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp salt If the salt burns too much, cut it back to 1 tsp or omit it until the sores begin to heal ***

In addition to what Eric said above have his TSH levels checked. His Thyroid may be damaged.

With what your husband has been through 3 months is certainly not a long period of time to even begin recovering but you should make sure that his docs are aware of his status. Seems to be that a lot of his problems are being caused by the mucous. How long has he had this problem?

Calli, it will get easier! The thick gunk can be removed with a waterpic or a suction machine. You can rent it with a doctors prescription from a medical supply company. Once the thick mucous is gone he will develop dry mouth which will be a relief. Carrying a water bottle around will be his new routine for a couple months.

Recovery for what your husband has gone thru can take a few months, even a year or 2 to fully heal. So much depends on his age and pre-cancer condition. A diet high in protein will help him to recover. Also his daily calories should be 2500 with 48 oz of water. This will help his body to rebuild itself and gain strength.

Try setting very small daily goals. Sit outside for an hour, walk to the mailbox a couple days, next to the end of the block for a couple days. After he has mastered that try making it around the block or if you have a dog walk a dog. Get him moving just like what they do in the hospital. Nothing strenuous but it will help him to have something to break up his days and something to look forward to.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your replies! He uses a mouth wash with all the above plus lidocaine and benedryl. He's had the mucus since his surgery in December, but this last month has been the worst, but we also found out a couple of weeks ago that he has emphysema and bronchitis so that could be the cause at he's had no improvement with antibiotics and steroids. He takes above about 6-8 cans of ISO source 1.5 along with about 8 glasses of water.

Callie

Following up on DavidCPA's post. My advice is to schedule an appointment with an endocrinologist, preferably one who went to medical school in the 21st century. While many GPs and oncologists feel comfortable treating thyroid issues, they often rely upon outdated lab test references since the TSH is just a simple blood test. You want the TSH level to be the same now as before cancer.
What is your husband's TSH level now? If you don't know what it was, it should NOT be higher than 3 even though the lab results say up to 4.5 is okay. But that is contrary to all the specialists. Before cancer I was 1.6. After TX it had shot up to 4.3. With Levoxyl pills, it gradually went down to 3.04, then to 2.17 and then 1.48 and now 1.36.
If his fatigue is related to thyroid, then time will not make it better only worse, unlike the other symptoms.
As for the thick mucous, seltzer water (in the small cans, not the big bottles or else the Fizz is lost) as a rinse really helped me spit it all out without choking. I went thru a six pack a day of generic store brand selzter water. Be sure not to buy tonic water or mixer as that has quinine in it which burned my mouth the one time I grabbed the wrong six pack.
Charm

I'm 11 weeks post Tx and heres what I do.
I use flavored soda water available at Walmart to clear the thick mucus . It bubbles up and cuts through the mucus.
I could never get enough Cals with just the caned stuff so I went to Walmart and bought Vanella Whey Protein powder ( 54 gm / serving ) and nix a shake with one can of the iso ,2 scoops protein powder, 1/4 cup of raw almonds, 1 cup of whole milk, Choc syrup and 2 Tbls peanut butter. Blend it in a very high speed blender like a Vita Mix. I drank 3 of these a day and put on 6# so fast I couldn't believe it.
The pain should be going away soon but keep ahead of it.
Good luck with the recovery.

Thank you, I had heard from the doctor to try club soda and it burned his throat and he wouldn't use it anymore...thanks to you I now know why, I bought the mixer!! Will be going and getting regular today. I will definitely talk with the doctor about the thyroid issue. He goes thurday morning to have a ct scan done to make sure the swelling in his face and neck is just fluid. Going to be a long night wednesday with no water or pain meds after midnight! Has anyone else had to take gabapentin..a nerve pain pill? Just curious.

Thanks,
Callie

Magic mouthwash was the best thing for me and sleeplessness is a real issue with all the opioids. Try melatonin for sleep, it's natural and helps a ton with sleeplessness. The saliva thickness and gagging junk will eventually go away, but it was very unpleasant.

I had to take gabapentin, it didn't really help. Time seemed to help more than anything. 2.5 years out and still have a burning sensation on my tongue. Some days worse than others, but not as bad as the beginging.