Hi Everyone, I just want to say thanks for all your replies and for making this site function. The information here is invaluable to an oral cancer patient, and has really helped me through tx and recovery. I saw my ENT last week and he said that things looked very good. He said that there is a very good chance there was a complete response to the treatment and that surgery might not be needed. Of course we won�t know for sure until after the PET scan in March. I will be seeing my RO this coming Monday and I don�t see any reason why he won�t release me for work. I�m not 100% but I do think I�m well enough to do my job. I need a job, and I need benefits so I guess I just have to man up and do it. The nausea is completely gone, and the dry mouth is here. I also had my PEG tube removed. I�m still not eating because it�s just too much trouble. I have to take small bites because it�s too dry to swallow and everything tastes like crap, it�s so much easier just to drink 2 can of Ensure, 3 times a day. It�s only been 4 weeks post tx so I hope in time my appetite and taste will get better. Overall, I�m very grateful for the progress I�ve made. Thanks again for all the help available here at OCF

Its always great to hear a member has successfully completed their treatments and is doing well with their recovery. In time you will begin to have more good days than bad. At one month post rads, you still have lots of healing to do. Keep up your good nutrition and try to have a high protein diet to help speed your healing.

Best wishes with your continued recovery

Hi, Mike
glad to hear you are doing so well! If you don't already have one, get yourself a blender. You can start experimenting with your own protein shakes - they won't taste great for a while, but you can probably find a recipe that tastes less bad than the canned variety.
Best wishes,
Maria

That's a good idea Maria, do you know where I can find some recipes for protein shakes?

You are so right Christine that I still have a lot of healing to do. I am hoping to go back to work soon, not because I feel so great, but mainly because I need the job and the benefits. The only choice I have is to push through this. I still have my ups and downs through the day, and I'm really hoping that I can push through them.

As a day goes by its one day closer to being well. I forced myself to return to my office job part time after only 7 weeks post rads. The first 2 weeks were horrible as I was so weak. I would come home and take a 4 hour nap.

Returning to work is not just about money and benefits. You must regain your strength before you rush it. Try doing some short walks to regain some endurance. Even a little exercise will help build you up. Walking around the block and then in a couple days making it 2 or 3 blocks will help. Alot of this also depends on what type of work you do. If you have an office job that would be much easier than someone who does physical work. But jobs which require lots of concentration and memory may also be a bit of a challenge at first. If you are able to return part time at the start that would make it much easier for you to adapt to working again.

Good luck!!!

Hi!! there's a site run by a cancer survivor and member of this board. They charge a monthly fee, PM me for details if you are interested. There are two parts to it one is general nutrition and weight loss, but the other is for people who are tube feeders and cancer survivors, or those in treatment. It has all sorts of recipes, and for those of us who like to make our own smoothies etc... and it's free to us.

Often I use a two different vegan proteins and blend them with fresh fruit and almond milk for my breakfast and protein boost for the day (yum) but I'm now almost two years post op and 21 mos post treatment so I can eat most foods so the evenings I eat pretty much what I want.

You'll get there too.

congrats!

Unfortunately my job is going to be much more physical than office work, and I�m going to have to go back full time with no restrictions. I really have no choice, if I don�t get back to work soon I will lose the job completely. I cant imagine what it would be like trying to find a job at my age, in this economy, and with the condition I have, not to mention not having benefits to pay for all the medical expenses I will no doubt have in the future. I don�t know what I would do. I figure if my doctor releases me without restrictions, and the company doctor ok�s my return without restrictions I have to give it a shot and hope for the best. I just hope this doesn�t tax my body in any way that would hinder my recovery or cause more damage. I think getting my doctors approval, and then passing a physical is going to be a lot easier than actually working an 8 to 10 hour day. I�m hoping that I can make it through the day and crash when I get home, doing nothing else but regaining strength for the next day. I have been out and about and sometimes I feel very good, but than at other times I feel weak. Its up and down throughout the day. Its hard to figure, sometimes I feel good to go back, and other times I question whether I can do it. Believe me, I�ve been doing a lot of praying about this.

Hum, let's see. When exactly did your treatment end? Are you about a month out? I went back and checked my e-mails I sent for my husbands updates, and they note an increase in stamina at about 6-7 weeks out.

One of our member's husbands also went back to a very physical job - on the slopes of Alaska!!! - very early. She posts as KP5, and I think has responded to your thread. If you look at her early posts, I think you will find them inspiring and full of great advise. The following link is was one she wrote 7 weeks post TX - as you can see, there are ups and downs, but the long shifts in Alaska were managable for him.

7 Weeks Post TX for One Tough Dude

Thanks Maria, As always the information on this site is invaluable to a cancer pateint.

Mike, glad to hear you've come through things and that you're ready to fight on!

I was on liquids for a good six months after RT. Once the mouth sores got down to tolerable levels I started in with the blender. And in fact I still do it once or twice a week because I like it and it's a quick meal.

Normally I'll take 2 cans or bottles of whatever nutritional supplement I have on hand - i.e. the one that was most recently on sale - and dump 'em in, then a banana, a scoop of protein powder and some frozen strawberries. Often I'll add a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter and/or yogurt. I resist the urge to finish the masterpiece with ice cream and chocolate syrup as the damn thing is already pure sugar...

Whip that baby up and mmm-boy, she's good.

Best of luck going back to work. That will be challenging, but I know you can do it.

Hi Mike,
You are asking an awful lot from your body, but I understand completely why you are doing it. Protein up buddy! Take your breaks when you can and make them REAL breaks. SIT down and drink something with lots of nutrition. Same with lunch, afternoon and dinner and another before you pass out. Then rest!
Good luck. Keep us posted.
Kathy

... and speaking of nutrition and protein ...
Whey powder is an excellent source. If you get the kind with the natural vanilla, it will taste ... less bad at first, and good later. My husband's first homemade shakes included dairy or soy milk, whey powder, 1 or 2 packages of breakfast essentials, and canned peaches. Once these were going down well, I picked up toddler oatmeal cereal and that went in the shakes: its smooth and mixes up easilly, and has some 'stick to your ribs' quality. If you can do one of these for breakfast, you can bring a pack of nutrition drinks (get the high protein kind) to work with you for lunch and breaks.

Oh - and very important, have a water bottle or three or four.

Hello everyone.
I wanted to say thank you as well. My sister successfully (well, hopefully!) completed her 35 radiation and 7 chemos....35th radiation was today.

We know things are still going to be tough for a while but she believes that after the radiation and having to go every morning, that she can face anything now.

She still has a lot of voice...at least more than I had imagined. She can no longer eat or even swallow for that matter....Thank God for the Peg Tube...but I think once the healing stage begins she's going to be able. Or at least learn a NEW way to do it. I don't know, but this is all so much more than I had hoped for that I could cry for days with happiness. She surprised me with how very strong she was...she may only weigh 75 lbs but she is a tough old bird, that is for damn sure.

I know we have more to face and really won't know anything definite until after all the scans in a couple of months....but she is alive and I am happy.

Thank you all for all the unbelievable love and optimism and FACTS you give every day. I can never begin to tell you how helpful it has been....helpful is silly...invaluable is more like it. So many times when I didn't know what to do or say to help Marie through, I would come here and read and read and I always found some right thing that would get her through another aggrevation.

You are all wonderful people and those who find this site are indeed blessed.
Thank you.

Jane

So happy to hear how positive she is. That is half the battle. I found that in my husband too.
Kathy

Awesome... Let the healing begin!