Hello there and welcome to OCF.
It sounds as if your husbands diagnosis and treatment have all happened very quickly,and you havent had a great deal of time to find out too much information about his treatment and its implications before you were dropped in to the deep end.
A few questions for you
Where exactly is his SCC? I see you have put Tx in his diagnosis ,does this mean he has an unknown primary? and do you know the staging of his disease?
How old is he?
Does he have a history of tobacco and alcohol use?
Has he been fitted with any sort of nutriton aid such as a PEG tube?
What is making you feel discouraged the most?
The members of this forum have nearly all been in your shoes and will surely be able to walk you through the next few weeks, and maybe even months,which will almost certainly be difficult and at times make you feel a little despondant,but i am sure you will get a great deal of benefit from being able to share your experiences and ask any questions that arise.
Radiation and chemo being run concurrently will produce a miriad of what may seem like insurmountable side effects ,which unfortunately do not peak until some three to four weeks after the IMRT has finished and nutrition,weight loss,depression and pain are all the ovewhelming problems you have to face over the course of the treatment.
Write again with some more detailed information if you can and then perhaps you can get some specific advice to overcome the hurdles you are already having to face,but in general,pain and nutrition are the most important to deal with.
Is your husband able to eat anything ?Does he have any sort of nutritional Supplement such as Ensure or boost? What is he taking for the pain?
Sorry to bombard you with so many questions,but without knowing what he is already on it is difficult to advise you on how to help him through what is going to be a very frustarating time.
Please try not to get despondant, you have found the right place to get all the support you need to help you both through this. You will need to be strong as his carer,and also need a support network of your own( see caregivers board for when you need emotional or practical support)so once again welcome and i hope we can help.
liz
