We are 11 weeks post treatment - 35 Rads and 3 Cisplatin for Stage 4 SCC of Rt Tonsil. My husband started swallowing and trying food 5 weeks ago, and it's slow going. He's still tube feeding as well. The problem is that he has projectile vomiting at random times. No triggers that we can see. Not necessarily related to eating or tube feeding. He's lost 23 pounds in the last 4 weeks alone. The GI doc can't find anything to be causing this except for possible pain meds. (He's still on a Fentanyl patch and has tapered off break-through pain meds.) The oncologist thinks it may be a spastic esophagus that's just not healed. But it comes out of the blue, without warning, and then his energy is zapped. So, now he's so paranoid to eat or tube feed, so he's only getting 1000 calories per day which is not good. We're desperate. He'll have good days without any vomiting and good energy and then vomiting again. Thoughts anyone?

Kevin,

My thought is the fentanyl, nausea and flu like symptoms are common side effects. I experienced vomiting while on it myself (was on fentanyl for 18 months)...understanding that the fentanyl patch is inconsistent in delivering the medication in proper doses due to the delivery system being body heat activated.

What would happen to me is that I would try to be too active, raise my body temp allowing more fentanyl to be released then normal...once the fentanyl made it into my blood stream (several hours later) I would have different issues, vomitting, dizziness, respitory are among them...it actually put me into the ER on a few occasions.

I would suspect when your husband feels good, he gets more active, raises his body temp...and then feels the effects of the fentanyl after it makes it's way into his bloodsteam. Hope it helps

Eric

Also if he's putting his patch in an area (back of leg, lower back, buttocks etc..) that get's sat on and get's hot or he's letting hot water hit it while showering or bathing it will release more medication as well...just another thought that I know happened to me

I dealt with this too. I think for me it was transitioning back to solid food from a pure liquid diet. I would WANT regular food but it wouldn't stay down or digest very well and I would get sick. IT was very very frustrating. I got down to 95 lbs at my lowest. My biggest problem is that I would need to be hungry to motivate myself to learn to eat again so I would forgo the feeding tube sometimes in order to have the appetite to eat - also my system just didn't like tons of liquid food and then the new solid food together.

I think regular food just took awhile to get used to again.

Hang in there!!!!

And yes at the end of treatment I would sometimes get very very nauseous and couldn't keep anything down for almost a full day... it was the spastic projective vomiting too. My oncologist would occasionally give me fluids and this really helped. I also did accupuncture which helped me a lot.

I know it is so frustrating and scary too. I understand being scared that the feedings will make you sick. I had the same problem. Try smaller more frequent tube feedings where he won't feel so full and maybe that will help.

Hi-I'm new. I am 3 years out from 90% glossectomy and trying to learn to eat food. I still have my PEG. If yours was total, what do you eat and do you still have your peg? Thanks.