Several times now, I've heard a month of healing per week of treatment. Is this radiation, Chemo, either, or both? Does this mean Joe will be this bad for 7 more months???? I don't think he can take that. I can only FORCE about 1500 to 1800 calories into him daily and that's formula. He just doesn't want to eat or drink, except water.
Any hints? What should he expect at 1 month, 2 months, etc.?

The "month of recovery for each week of treatment" refers to radiation. Most of us have had adjunctive chemo so it might be a small factor in shortening the healing time without it.
Joe should start to turn the corner between 6-8 weeks, then he will start improving gradually. I started getting my sense of taste back about then. One must be very patient - it is a long slow process. About 2 months or so I was pretty much taking care of myself. My wife was still doing the shopping because the immune system takes a long time to recover so you have to avoid public places.

I lost 61 lbs and was lucky to get that many calories in as Joe gets. Healing will be enhanced by 3 things. 1. pain management, 2. adequate calories and hydration and 3 infection control.

Try to stay in the "now" and do the best you can on a daily basis.

While many people find that forumula correct, I healed from the rad and chemo much more quickly and at one month, while still bandaged for rad burns, was out running with my dogs. I never used more than three cans of food a day in my PEG and didn't eat until my mouth healed later than that, but I was up and out and about. It is not necessarily down time. And I was 55 at the time, so no spring chicken.

Bottom line, every single patient is different, but you and he are most probably not looking at 7 months.

I was like Joanna, I healed quickly and was up and about quickly. But, I've always been a very, very active person who doesn't even sit to watch a movie, I stand and move around while watching it! We're all different, no truer words have been spoken on here. I also doubt it will be 7 months of feeling poorly, by 7 months I was very close to my normal self.

Even those of us who took a long time to heal (me) weren't feeling as bad as we did right after treatment for seven full months--just not fully back to normal energy (acutally, two years out from treatment I'm recognizing I may never be fully back to my pre-cancer level of energy which was pretty high--but my energy is well within the nomral range). His energy and taste will come back quite a bit before seven months are up. And, for me, my appetite came back when I finally healed enough to get off the prescription pain meds--which was four months after treatment was over but I had pretty ssrious mouth sores up until then--others get off them much more quickly.

We all are different in how we respond to radiation and thuse how long the healing takes us. And chemo as well (like Gary, I had a low WBC for about 4 mos. after chemo and 2 years later I'm STILL slightly anemic, both things that did not help fast recovery). For someone used to healing quicker from lesser things who is used to being active (as I was), it CAN be extremely frustrating how long it takes. Patience is definitely needed.

Nelie

I am 2.5 months out from treatment, and can pretty much do anything I want. My current "issues" are dry mouth, neck and shoulder stiffness, some neck tenderness and episodic swelling (lymphedema). My taste has started to come back. If it never gets any better, I could live with it.

I am a firm believer that mental attitude is as critical to the recovery period as it is during treatment. I will admit to some depression/anger/edginess since completing treatment, which apparently is fairly common. We burn up a lot of emotional energy during treatment, and there is a natural letdown afterward. I need to really focus on my attitude, and find I feel better physically when I can get myself moving and active.

I have to say that I help pretty true to this "rule-of-thumb" I had 35 IMRT treatments over 9 weeks (had a two week break in the middle) and just this past week (9 months out) I noticed a few more improvements.

KC

When did your hubby finish treatments? Mine had his last rad on 8/3 and his last chemo on 8/6. The first two weeks post treatment, I wondered if he had the will to continue...it was EXTREMELY hard. He didn't have a peg and he had no desire to take in fluids or calories. At the time, it was really difficult for me to visualize a life post-treatment that in anyway resembled our life pre-treatment. Then, when things started to get a tiny bit better he got knocked down by a staph infection.

Now, he's on day 50 of his recovery and things are going remarkably well. He finished tapering off of the pain meds on September 17th and he has been eating solid foods the past couple of weeks (even though most don't taste good). He is driving again (yay!!! I needed help with soccer car pools) and he is mentally much more alert. He also manages his own medications. (He is on Evoxac for help with saliva and an antidepressant)

He still struggles with bouts of extreme fatigue and occasional nausea. But, it's manageable. We are hoping he will be able to return to work within one to two months.

I do think it will take a long time for him to get back to his pre-treatment energy level. Right now, it works for us. Our bedroom has become the new living center. He generally has to lie down after dinner, so the kids do there homework in our bedroom...and, that's where the bulk of our family time is spent. We all retire to sleep much earlier than before he was in treatment, which has made the school mornings much easier.

The past 2 weeks the healing has been monumental. I don't expect every 2 weeks to be so huge. But, I am happy that there are many more good days than bad.

PHightower, I hope your hubby turns the corner soon. I agree with what everyone is saying. Yes, it takes a heck of a long time to recover. And, everyone does it at there own rate. But, the whole 7 months is not all bad...it's a constant adaptation to a new normal.

This past weekend, we had to drive 2 hours to go to my son's soccer game. My husband drove there and back...I was amazed. And, we added a few hours to the trip so we could spend some family time hanging out in the town we were in. It was fun. We had to take rest breaks, and finding foods that he could tolerate was a little tricky, but it was a really great day. A month ago, I didn't think those kind of days were in the cards for us...it was that bad. So, hold out hope, it will get better.

And, I am also learning to manage my expectations. He rarely has two good days in a row. It's more like one giant step forward and then a couple of litte steps back followed by another leap forward. Staying positive is hard sometimes, but overall the more progress we are seeing the easier that gets.

Good luck!