Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | Hi Tom, The good news is the further away you get from the chemo the better you'll feel. I got to a point where I couldn't keep anything down so I used compazine suppositories and they worked ok. Talk to your nutritionist about constipation meds. There is wide range of everything from OTC to prescription. Also things you are consuming now will be painful to consume later on like any kind of fruit or juice.
Your hemoglobin count will drop from the radiation and possibly chemo also. Some chemo does a number on your bone marrow so your WBC may drop as well. Red blood cells get replaced every 120 days so that will return to normal levels eventually.
I don't want to reopen the debate about PEG tubes. Do a search and you'll find out more than you want to know. I personally did not get one, preferring to tough it out. It took a lot of discipline to literally force feed myself, in spite of the tastelessness and pain. I still ended up losing over 60 lbs. The doctors weren't happy with me then. I lived to tell the tale and you can too if you are willing to go the distance with nutrition and water intake. As it was, I still had to be hospitalized twice for rehydration.
Some swear by them and some some swear at them. Although interestingly enough, most who swear at them DIDN'T get them!
You are really early in treatment. The worst of it is yet to come. My side effects tanked out around 3-4 weeks POST Tx. You need to prepare emotionally for this. Roll with it, stay on top of the side effects and you'll get through this!
Gary Allsebrook *********************************** Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2 Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy) ________________________________________________________ "You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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