Ask his doctors if he can just get the carbo -- that's all my husband had for his whole treatment (plus 33x radiation) , and that at Hopkins -- and they know what they are doing as they get 100s of HNC patients a year. The carbo was a non-issue (my husband's exact words) and had few side effects. Taxol can cause nausea and peripheral neuropathy , the latter why his MO did not want him to get it as he has some issues with hand tremors.

But your husband's not eating is the 800-pound gorilla in the room! I am rather surprised that his doctors are not getting on this a lot more forcefully. A patient has the right to refuse any treatment (such as a PEG insertion) but there is no way your husband is going to get through 4 more weeks of chemo or anything else if he does not eat! Joanna is probably right, he is depressed and he needs that to be attended to as well.

It may be better to let him recover for a bit -- both physically and emotionally -- then do a PET/CT scan in a couple months and see what's what. Ask your doctors about this option. Additional treatment to the point where the patient is so debilitated that the success of treatment (and chance for a full recovery) is compromised is not logical.

Gail