Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | I can only tell you about my experience about your remaining time. I continued to get weaker; nothing really helped my nausea so some days I went without any net influx of water or calories. Net meaning what I swallowed vs what came back up. That led to severe dehydration and the Big C (constipation) which was a painful time to say the least. During my say last week of Tx and the 2 weeks following I got IV's 3 times and even enjoyed a hospital stay of 2 or 3 days. They finally convinced me to have a nasal tube installed and that got me back on the road to calories and hydration. Only had it for a week (?) but it sure made a difference for my sorry stubborn butt. Also I lost my7 voice for about a week; lost the hair on the back of my neck and my whiskers from my chin down ( hair came back but not the whiskers); developed the thick mucous stage which lasted about 2 weeks and then came the dreaded dry mouth stage which lasts until you fully recover and then you'll see what percent of your taste and saliva will return. That recovery for me took all of 2 years and that's the physical recovery. The mental recovery is probably the rest of our life but it's not all bad because it does put some things into a rewarding perspective.
I hope none of these things happen to you but rest assured that if they do you will survive them all. Also don't get frustrated during your slow recovery as it does take a long time for your body to heal.
Good luck!!!
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
|