Hey Tim,

My husband had that too and we found that doing the slow gravity drip bag was the only way he could tolerate feedings at the height of his side effects. Sometimes we ran a larger amount all night and just taped the connecting tube to make sure he didn't roll over on it. There were many days when he was hooked up all the time. See what you feel the most comfortable with.

All of this is frustrating but it will get better. What kind of anti nausea drugs are you on? We found that daily zofran with compazine for breakthrough helped keep it managable in addition to emend given on the chemo days. Maintaining your hydration and nutrition is one of those vital things that we can participate in and it will make a big difference in how you heal.

The decision on which chemo drug and how much to use is very individualized. Jack had 4 cycles of cisplatin, which was a team recommendation from our CCC in (consultation with 2 other facilities)and that was based on the fact that his cancer was poorly differentiated, extrascapsular and involved 7 lymph nodes. They monitored his blood counts all the time and the 3rd and 4th cycles were delayed but ultimately given. He still has ups and downs with his blood work that will probably continue for several months but they are monitoring it and treating it as needed.

Jack has a high frequency hearing loss that is getting better. Mostly he complained that his ears felt full, ringing was an issue at times, and hearing like he had a bag over his head. Some of that was also the radiation. The hearing loss does not interfere with his ability to talk on the phone or be in most conversations and he feels it's a good trade off even if it's permanent.

Someone on this site once posted that "nothing interferes with your quality of life quite like death" and Jack has taken that to heart. He's had surgery, radiation and chemo and side effects come with all of those treatments, but his swallowing came back good enough for the PEG tube to be removed, his taste came back for most things, he's off the pain meds, and he's back working 30 hours per week. He's tired but happy to be alive to complain about it.

Hang in there and let us know how it's going. Ask your doctors their rational for doing one treatment over another but remember that every case is different and those individual details are what determines what will work best in your case.

Regards JoAnne