Received radio treatment Mon - Fri this week and low-dose Cisplatin on Wed. Neck and throat beginning to feel sore. Small amount of pain on swallowing. Nausea and faitigue. 5 more weeks to go. Getting depressed, feel the treatment is primitive & barbaric

Think about this, it was only 150 years ago that they were cutting off peoples limbs with no anesthetic! Yes radiation and chemo is barbaric but so is cancer. Slash, burn & poison has been the treatment of choice for a little over 100 years now. But there is hope - enough baby boomers are getting cancer now that the pharmaceutical industry and researchers are developing whole new treatments such as monoclonal antibodies, EGFR chemotheraphy and proton beam therapy. It would probably have happened sooner but erectile disfunction and hair loss medications took priority.

But about you - it's seems a little early for anitdepressants, typically the worst part is in the post Tx. I would ask the doc about them anyway. Look at it this way, if you are suffering this much, so early, then you must be responding well to treatment. A positive attitude is really important to help get you through this. It's going to be a rough ride for a while. Many of us here have gone through exactly what you are going through and are now on the other side. We are happy, content and leading productive lives once again.

What is "low dose Cisplatin"? I have never heard of that. Usually they give 2-3 infusions total, one every 3 weeks.

Cancer fatigue, pain & nausea come with the territory - keep your doctors informed so that they can give you meds to make you more comfortable.

Take it one day at a time.

I am getting a low dose of Cisplatin once a week for 6 weeks combined with radiotherapy. I ma getting depressed - I am suscebtible to this anayway but have managed to get through tonsillectomy and modified nexck dissection with a fairly positive attitude. I am hoping pain meds will help elevate my mood - something I have used the for off-prescription in the past!

My oncologist also told me that my cisplatin was at a low dose since I only had it 4 times, once every week and the actual infusion lasted about 2 hours only.Chris, it is very normal to feel depressed after the chemo and you need anti-deprssants to uplift your mood, not the pain med. I didn't feel much pain during treatment because I took pain medicine regularly once treatment started. Try to occupy yourself with something interesting, if you can. You will anticipate a very hard time during treatment and even harder after treatment. I am not here to scare you but to tell you I have gone through this before you. All is over now and I am back to my normal life. If you feel your depression getting worse, get some medical professional to help you cope with it.

Karen.

Hi Chris,
Just want to send good vibes your way. My friend has three more radiation treatments to go and we're already planning our post treatment party! I know it takes time to recover from treatment, but we just take one day at a time and know the day will come when it will be over.

Good luck, and hang in there.

Lawrence

Chris, sounds like we had similar cancer attacks. I had a tonsilectomy, then chemo/rad for 35 days (cisplatin once every 21 days starting day 1), then modified radical neck dissection. Hang in there, you can get through the treatment. It is a bit difficult, but treat it day to day and before you know it, you'll be on the mend.