Today marks one week post-radiation and chemo for me. I still have a trach in place. The mucositis is really bad and keeping me awake at night. During the day I wear a Passy-Muir valve which helps rid the mucous but at bedtime I remove it. I almost immediately start rattling and coughing. My sister comes in throughout the night to suction and/or clean the inner cannula of my trach. Is there a way to alleviate some of the suctioning as I fear it may be aggravating the mucositis. I also would like to be able to get some sleep!

I have developed radiation burns on my neck. I was prescribed silverdine cream today to help with that. Hoping to get through these next few weeks as I can see small signs of my body starting to heal. Thanks for any input.

Hello, have you tried nebulising saline through the trach? This helps to keep the secretions moist thus making it easier to cough them out. The other method of dealing with this is to wear some form of humidification over the trach at night. The trach tubes get gunged up with thick dry secretions and if you can keep them moist it will alleviate the problem.
Thinking of you, Tammy.

Sleeping with your head slightly elevated helps, using a humidifier will as well. Keep up the higher calories and water intake for at least the next year. Recovery can take a long time, pushing yourself to make the daily minimums will help your body to rebuild itself. Every day take in at least 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. If you can take in more calories it can only help. Extra water will help thin the mucous too. Adding some high protein whey powder to your diet helps with healing too.

Pat the cream on your radiation burns very gently. Never rub your sensitive burned skin. If using silver sulfadine cream, a little goes a long way. Pat a thin layer on and let it soak in.

Hang in there! Its a long road but soon you will begin to feel like you are finally beginning to get better.

Hi. The one thing that healed up quickly was my neck skin. One day I gave it a gentle scrub with a face cloth and dead skin just washed away. I wouldn't recommend that but remember thinking how incredible it was to go from a big collar-like bandage around my neck to normal skin again with a week or two.

Good luck with everything else. I hope time works it's magic before too long:)

I just received some NAC/Mucomyst. This is the first batch I have found in 3 years so manufacturing must have picked up. Years ago, this was given with a nebulizer that was very big. Now there are tabletop models that I travel with. It is a mucoytic agent and thins it so it will break down or be coughed/suctioned out easier.

"Acetylcysteine is a derivative of cysteine where an acetyl group is attached to the nitrogen atom. This compound is sold as a dietary supplement commonly claiming antioxidant and liver protecting effects. It is used as a cough medicine because it breaks disulfide bonds in mucus and liquefies it, making it easier to cough up. It is also this action of breaking disulfide bonds that makes it useful in thinning the abnormally thick mucus in cystic and pulmonary fibrosis patients."