Hi All,

I am new here - this is only my second time in this forum - so please forgive me if the questions I ask, have already been answered previously. My husband (53 years old) has stage III squamous cell carcinoma at the base of the tongue (way deep down). He has just finished 8 weeks of out-patient radiation therapy about a week ago - has not opted for a feeding tube during his treatment. My questions are: How long does the mouth sores and pain in the tongue/back of throat last? And is fatigue a common problem after radiation? It seems he gets more exhausted now, then when he did when he was going through therapy. Is this normal? Does this mean anything I should be worried about - or do these things just take time? I am so worried. Sometimes he has some energy (not much though) and other days he just seems to sleep the day away. He eats mostly liquids - ice water, some soda's and milk and maybe (on good days) a few "solids" such as scrambled eggs and applesauce. He is a heavy-set guy who originally started off at 360 lbs but is now down to 290. The dietician said he was losing too much weight too fast. I would think this is due to the basically liquid diet. It's a "catch 22" - he needs food/nutrition to gain strength - but on the other hand - his appetite is greatly diminished and eating is hard to do. He does not want a PEG tube. Any thoughts to all of this? Thanks

Donnajean,
It is extremely normal for your husband to be fatigued and to sleep the day away after finishing radiation treatment. As I and others wrote in response to Kelly's questions in the topic below this one...it takes a long time to heal from radiation treatment. After 6 weeks of radiation I felt the worst that I felt in my entire diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore I have been unable to eat since 3 weeks into radiation and can only eat liquids 3 months after radiation! Read the other topic about the PEG...it is not a bad thing. It has allowed me to keep my weight up, and consequently has given me energy and helped me to heal.
Please be patient, things reach their low point after radiation ends, and gradually get better. Please reconsider the PEG and reread the posts in the topic below where you also posted.

Best of luck,
Danny G.

the rule of thumb i was told was that it takes one month of recovery to every week of radiation. it is totally normal to feel fatigued. on the days when i crash, i find the best thing to do is to sleep. have your husband listen to his body. the sleep will help in the healing process. don't let him push himself because that can lead to trouble.

he really needs to eat more. nutrition is also important for healing. is he taking anything like ensure or boost? those liquid supplements have alot of nutrients that can help the healing. a peg tube is also a really big help...i've been out of treatments for 3 months but still have mine and use it alot. i lost alot of weight and now have to gain 10 lbs before the doctor will even think of taking the tube out.