My dad is currently recovering after having Chemo/Radiotherapy. His treatment finished 5 weeks tomorrow, he is taking calorie drinks via PEG which is pumped through using a machine over numerous hours. The trouble is he feels so full and then makes him physicaly sick. He has lost 3 stone already and I think cant afford to lose anymore. He is so week. I personaly thought we would see some improvement after 5 weeks of finishing treatment but he doesnt seem to be feeling any better in himself at all? My mum is at her wits end and also feeling very low and I hate seeing them both this way. Feel so helpless

Slow down the rate and add water. By doing those 2 things, it will make it easier for your father to tolerate the feedings. Without getting proper nutrtion your father will feel terrible. What is the pump rate currently? What time are his feedings done?

Try starting them out at 40ml per hr. Add 1/2 - 1 can of water per can of formula. Start the feedings at noon and let it run. Make sure he is sitting up and does not lay down immediately afterwards. If necessary, redo this process at bedtime and refill the feeding bag with 2 more cans and 2 more cans of water. It will take forever for it to be absorbed but after a few days then boost the rate to 60. Give that a couple days and move up to 80.

It really is very simple to get your father back to feeling good again. Treatments can really be awful and make you feel miserable. Without getting minimum 498oz water and 2500+ calories per day, your dad will not be able to heal properly and will feel lousy. I also add a scoop of hi protein powder to my formula, protein aids healing.

Wow I'm not sure where to start.. this looked like an interesting area.. I'm Julie from Minnesota... just finished my 35th radiation treatment today... one more Chemo on Wednesday then I'm done for 6 weeks, then I imagine retesting. I was diagnosed end of July with tumor in back left side of tongue.... I have one question.... how long after radiation is over does it take for mouth to heal from the Mucositis.... I want to talk again and drink water and work towards eating... I'm hoping to talk and be swallowing water by Thanksgiving (ironic I know) I just have a lot of mucas in mouth.. and it's sore and burning.. pain meds don't do much good... my cancer was stage 4.... really hurt is I had to wait almost 3 weeks to start therapy, I had an infection in my gums and ended up getting 8 teeth pulled on that side.... The mouth felt pretty good until about 3 weeks ago, I was even swallowing pills now I'm afraid to swallow water. Scheduled for speech therapist soon... ooo my daughter is one too... I'm going to have her come with me.... any info would be appreciated... I've so far been on 2 dead blog sites and no responses at all, starting to feel invisible.....

Gramma...as you well know, everyone is different but my Bill ended his treatments on October 1, 2007 and was eating just fine by Thanksgiving. His taste buds were not working wonderfully but I wooed him with giblet gravey and pumpkin pie...he ate it!

You are not invisible to those of us here...give it some time and you will get several responses from all the wonderful people here who have walked this path.

Keep trying to swallow....very important to keep that working even if it hurts.

Best to you in your recovery!

Deb

Hi Gramma,

How are you doing? I know how uncomfortable you are right now. Its no fun at all. Hard to relax when your mouth is in pain. It is a very sensitive area and you've had a lot of trauma to it. It take a little while for the mucocitis to subside. I had a lot of extra saliva for awhile. Keep hydrated and it will slowly improve. I know it feels like you are standing at the bottom of a giant mountain right now with all you have to get through. The end of radiation and chemo is hard because the side effects get worse before they get better. It feels liek strep throat times 1000. So sorry you are going through this. Soon each day will get better and then it will get exciting to make an improvement each day.

The first day I could swallow water again might have been one of the happiest days of my life... Try and keep your mind off of your pain. I know it is really hard to do.

Love and hugs,

Kate

Gramma Julie, welcome to OCF. Your Thanksgiving timeline is a nice way to put all this behind you. I hope that you can work hard and get to eat Thanksgiving dinner with your family. I had that same goal in 2007 but I unfortunately never got there. Everyone recovers at their own pace. Best thing you can do is to rest, take in lots of water (min. 48 oz daily), and consume 2500+ calories per day. Focus on high protein for healing and you just might be able to handle Thanksgiving dinner.

If you dont get alot of responses, it could be cuz of starting this on another persons thread. Its best to start your own post under Introductions so people will see your post and focus on your issues.

Best of luck with your recovery. Let the healing begin!!!!

Julie,

Welcome to the BEST OC site in the world. If you can't get the answer here then no ones knows it! lol

Did they mention HPV to you and were you tested?

On the recovery front just about everyone's worst time is the few weeks post Tx. In fact when you finally start to feel a tad better we call it "walking out of the tunnel" so hang in there and soon you will start the recovery phase but do expect things might even get worse from now until they start to get better.

Keep the pain under control and do continue to get all the water and liquid food in you that you can. Swallow as much as you can so you don't risk further swallowing complications later on.

Looks like our treatment was about the same, I handed the chemo doctor the lab report from the Biopsy again.... one sample was to be tested for HPV I haven't heard anything.... but then again, why can't they just test me? I see him tomorrow, last Chemo... I'll ask. I'm 51 my cancer is BOT Stage 4 too.... I do keep swallowing... most the time nothing or crappy flem UGH. Sometimes a sip of water.... all I can drink of water is small sips. I'm wondering how long the mucasitis lasts.... is that what gets worse? ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I guess doctor said mine isn't too bad although it feels like it, no ulerations no bleeding... I do see blood in the spit once a while, just a little bit.

Always keep in mind that everyone can react differently but....most of us had the thick stuff for a few weeks and then the dry mouth sets in and it can take many months before signs of improvement shows up. Your taste issue may likely follow your dry issues so as the DM improves so will the taste.

Orally there is no reliable HPV test other than testing the slides deemed cancer. Having HPV present in an area can be different than HPV actually causing cancer. See the Post "HPV" where we recently discussed this.

Hi I had squama cell cancer on my tonsil and received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I am a year and 3 months on peg tube. I have upper oesophical stenosis and am only able to swallow a trickle of water. My oesophagus was unable to be dilated because it has gone so narrow after treatment and I was unable to swallow barium for barium swwallow. Is there anybody with a similar problem?