Hi All,

Finished up yesterday with ten radiation and two carboplatin/taxol treatments in the books. Reduced the anti-nausea meds from week one by 2/3 and it made a world of difference. No headaches, nearly no heartburn. Throat is slightly sore but partly because I have developed a cold or fall allergies have come on. I hope that passes soon. Who needs to be sick during treatment?

Energy level is good, still working out. Taking in ~3500-4000 calories a day and 60-80 oz of water. I think as people have suggested this is the #1 thing to concentrate on. I have gained 4 lbs over the last few weeks and hope to stave off the weight loss as long as possible.

Skin around neck is only the slightest red but I lotion 4 times a day and that seems to help take care of it for now.

I know I'm in the easy part of treatment now and I'm headed for more challenging times but knowing there is a beginning, a middle, and an end helps so much.

Best wishes to us all.

Keep knocking those weeks out! After week two most side effects start to kick in, but knowing that puts you ahead of the game, and should have everything lined up to help, like the neck cream the radiologist suggested, mouth rinses, oral care, pain meds, etc. The last two weeks will be the hardest, up until two weeks after with the rope mucus. The sore throat is probably the effects of radiation, also chemo causes basically the same ailments as does radiation, only sooner after infusion, but tell your doctor about it, and infections, common with treatment, can get out of control. if not treated properly. Ate you doing the salted warm water, baking soda rinse?

Good luck.

Rich, you are doing GREAT!!!! I love your focus on the importance of your hydration and calorie intake. This really will help you to get thru everything much easier. Keep up the good work!!!

Its also a very good idea to do the lotion on your neck. Make sure to never lotion up prior to going into rads.

Hope week 3 is uneventful as week 1 and 2 have been.

Way to go Rich, Keep filling your mouth while it is easy! Hope treatment remains smooth for as long as possible.

[quote=PaulB]Keep knocking those weeks out! After week two most side effects start to kick in, but knowing that puts you ahead of the game, and should have everything lined up to help, like the neck cream the radiologist suggested, mouth rinses, oral care, pain meds, etc. The last two weeks will be the hardest, up until two weeks after with the rope mucus. The sore throat is probably the effects of radiation, also chemo causes basically the same ailments as does radiation, only sooner after infusion, but tell your doctor about it, and infections, common with treatment, can get out of control. if not treated properly. Ate you doing the salted warm water, baking soda rinse?

Good luck. [/quote]

Paul,

Thanks for helping me with the checklist. One can never go over all the details enough. I started with the baking soda/salt rinse yesterday just because i noticed the slightest bit of tenderness at the end of one gum line.

My cold has gotten worse unfortunately and i've been coughing quite a bit since last night. The problem is the post nasal drip running down my throat. I tried to take some OTC stuff to dry it up but actually just turned everything to sludge. Bad idea. Taking some plain cough syrup now to try and get some relief.

My concern is when I lay down in the machine tomorrow how do I keep from coughing. I'm going to email my nurse practitioner for ideas.

Regards,

-Rich

You can never cover everything. If I'm told it's uncommon to occur, I figure it will with me. Sinusitis can occur with radiation. With any medication, OTC, products, I usually run it by my doctors, sometimes after I already used it lol.

Rich - hang in there buddy. You've got a great attitude and I know you'll get through this with flying colors. I didn't have any coughing issues during treatment so really can't advise beyond cough syrup. Although maybe some general anti-anxiety stuff like Ativan taken beforehand (usually takes an hour for it to kick in for me) might relax you in a general way so that the coughing could be minimized? Worth a thought.

Sending good vibes your way.

I remember being scared of stuffy nose as well. My mask was so tight for the first 5 weeks that I could not breathe thru my mouth while it was on. Doc gave me flonaze, which I used out of fear more than need. Afterwards, I found that Afrin works well but listen to your docs. Afrin can have rebound congestion issues that might make it worse. Be careful, a simple cold, or worse the flu, will make things more difficult and stressful. Lord know, more stress is not something we all needed at that time.

[quote=Hockeydad]I remember being scared of stuffy nose as well. My mask was so tight for the first 5 weeks that I could not breathe thru my mouth while it was on. Doc gave me flonaze, which I used out of fear more than need. Afterwards, I found that Afrin works well but listen to your docs. Afrin can have rebound congestion issues that might make it worse. Be careful, a simple cold, or worse the flu, will make things more difficult and stressful. Lord know, more stress is not something we all needed at that time. [/quote]

The doctor did say Afrin but I'm avoiding it for the reasons you stated. My cold has raged for over a week now. Basically it's get up every hour or two in the middle of the night and hack up a chunk of lung. I can still eat for the most part, and drink, so I feel lucky there but I did lose 13 pound between chemo treatments (mostly not eating and taking in enough water last weekend) which freaked the docs out. Weight has stabilized now.

If I can shake this cold finally It will help a lot. Most of my mild throat pain at this point (15 rads, 3 Chemo) is caused by the coughing. I've been taking Tussin religiously which keeps everything coming up but with my WBC less than half my norm it's just taking a long time to kill it off. Add in that my tongue has swelled to twice its normal size and one gets a bit frustrated but I'm staying positive. I still have some sense of taste and decent saliva most of the time. I feel luckier than others.

Rich:

I'm glad I found your thread as I start rads in a week or so, no chemo at this time, I'm hoping rads alone will be easier.

Still, it helps to know where you are in your treatment and the side effects it's causing.

You have a great positive attitude that shows in your post.

Good luck with continued treatment, I hope you can kick the cold soon.

Tony