Rick,

The end of the tunnel we talk about comes appx after 3 weeks post Tx. Hang in there.

Ok, end of week seven. 7/7 chemo down and 33/33 radiation treatments given. Last radiation was on Thursday. Not showing up at 3:30 on Friday to get zapped was like nothing I've ever felt. That part of this process is done and there's no where to go but forward from here.

Saw my MO on Tuesday before my last chemo. He had some interesting observations. After looking at my throat he said in appearance it looked like I was in week 4 not week 7. I had my neck wrapped with non-stick gauze at the time and before he looked he said he probably wouldn't treat me this week. Apparently chemo also can sensitize the skin to the radiation and make the burns worse on the neck. I unwrapped my neck and he sort of threw his hands up and said 'Amazing'. His expectation is that you'll see either neck or throat bad or both but he just doesn't see both tracking behind expectations. He looked at my blood work and said we'll just go ahead and proceed with the treatment.

We had a long conversation about chemo itself. What he expects it to have accomplished and why dropping the carboplatin after week 4 should have no statistical effect on destroying this cancer and lower the recurrence rate. I felt good after leaving his office that I got so lucky in how I passed through this course of treatment compared to so many who truly suffer. My heart breaks for all of them.

He also pushed out my next follow up a few weeks. His theory is they measure patients on 5 tipping points (Throat damage, neck damage, nutrition, pain management and one other) by week seven most people have fallen over the edge on more than one and may be close on others that the 5-10 day cooking period after treatment stops may push them over. He said that these people generally will need further attention in areas and that's why they stress the whole it gets worse before it gets better after it's over. In my case he said I should get no worse than I am now and should see improvement much sooner.

Met will my RO next who also said the throat looks good and is still amazed at my lack of having used narcotics or a feeding tube. She just doesn't see that and was very happy for me. I will get my first scan in 6 weeks but that will probably just show surgery if anything. Apparently the six month one is what we are waiting for.

My neck is down to the annoyance of a sunburn right now. I keep lotioning the parts around the treatment area and the exit areas on the back of the neck. The actual entry points i'm still using Aquaphor on for now as they do try and scab a bit. That will end soon I think.

Nutrition is meh at best. I'm eating but my menu choices are limited and I'm getting bored. Throat feels a little better today so hopefully in a few days i'll be able to expand my choices.

Mucous has ramped up in the last week for sure. It's not always as bad as other times but it is a problem. Makes me cough a lot which holds back the throat healing. I had fantastic results with Mucinex pills for the last several weeks but have developed the dreaded "I can't swallow pills" problem. They get stuck and i end up coughing them out or shooting them across the room. What clever solutions have people come up with for this? My main concern is getting my Zantac down because I do get heartburn easily now.

I think that covers it. I took the next three weeks off of work to rest and try and get more food down throughout the day. All in all I feel not so bad and generally lucky to have found this when I did and have been in the hands of such great doctors. You all have been a source of strength and inspiration. I'll keep updating this post so folks that are in treatment can get and idea of how one person tracked on the road to recovery.

Regards,

-Rich

Happy to hear such a great report!

Way to go Rich. Although everything still hurts, its nice not to go to the center everyday. Good call not going to work. Calories and rest and let the rads do their magic.

Rich congratulations on this phase of your journey. You have much to be thankful for and yes it is tough when you consider you have good reports and others do not. Grace is given to each however and there is purpose within. I recently wrote on my whiteboard in my office a word. "Survivor" A constant reminder that we are. This is a common thread in one word we share. Stay strong and keep hydration and nourishment a priority. No time to relax the urgency.

Great report!!

OK, it's been a week or so since I finished (this is day 10 post treatment). I'll tell you what, the whole "it gets worse after treatment stops" mantra that people stress here is no joke. By far the worst week for throat issues that I have experienced.

Finished treatment on Thursday 11/07. Saturday I woke up not able to swallow anything on the thin liquid scale (water, juice, etc.). What would happen is, part of the sip of water would get caught at the back of the throat and induce choking. It felt like I was water-boarding myself with each swallow. It became impossible to take in any appreciable amount of fluid to keep hydrated. I could still eat my mushy cereal but that was about it. By Monday morning I knew I was pretty dehydrated and could end up in a serious pickle if i didn't act soon.

Thankfully due to the brilliant veterans that post here I have read a number of times about utilizing the cancer infusion center for IV hydration. I would never have known about this on my own. So I called the hotline Monday morning around 10am and was in the center by 11am getting 2L of IV. Amazing people there. I had lost six pounds in water weight alone. Basically I went in three times last week and through that was able to get through the worst of it.

Woke up yesterday and ran some errands and then came home and napped when I woke I seriously felt I had turned a corner. I ate like a horse (well a horse that had seven weeks of treatment) and drank more water in one day than I had in two weeks. Hoping this pace of improvement keeps up.

My neck is basically 90%+ healed. Yesterday was the first day I have worn a t-shirt in weeks. I'm sure I'll be applying lotion multiple times a day for weeks but that's a minor inconvenience.

My main goals now are increasing the variety and nutritional value of the foods I eat (canned chicken soup only gets you so far) and building my strength up. Feeling that the worst is over and lucky because of it.

Stay strong everyone,

-Rich

Dehydration is nothing to play around with! It happened to me and I felt like I was dying. I was positive that I was at the end. After a few days of hospitalization I pulled out of it. Glad you went to the chemo lab and got hydrated, in an emergency, the ER will give you fluids too.

Recovery can be a long, frustrating road full of ups and downs. To me, it sounds like you are doing very well. Keep up the 2500 calorie minimum and 48 oz of water for at least the next year and you will do great. Watch out for setbacks and when you have a bad day, increase your intake and you might be able to turn that day around. Its all in the nutrition. Check with your doc if you can add some high protein whey powder to your beverages to help promote healing.

This might help too. List of Easy to Eat Foods

Keep up the good work and soon the good days will outnumber the bad ones.

Thanks Christine. You nailed it on the head. Dehydration to that extreme makes you so miserable you can't even think straight. Last week was truly the worst week of my life from a health perspective. I'm glad it was only a week.