Ok we are in home stretch...supposed to have his last chemo this past week - held because of low counts we are having GT placed tomorrow - he has surrendered to idea as only sips for last 4 wks, and still have a healthy week of RT and then of course the recovery phase. We will try again chemo tues after holiday . I feel like I need to cut and paste on several topics as feel probs in every area and the inability to help is crushing me. Will he be able to shower with this, I'm pretty sure he can...and looks like this option the best as we are prob looking at at lease 6-8 wks I'm guessing nutritional support....? Excess secretions... Nothing to do about this I suppose...? Not thick and he didn't like the sx machine idea. It's broken my heart to have him have had lost so much wgt and muscle when he was such an athletic strong build before.the docs told him it will help him bounce back faster and he is wanting to and trying very hard.... I know it's crushing him as not the type of person to want to be fussed over or require or want any help in past... So hard to love someone so very much and unable to help with what feels like should be on such basic levels....also no voice which frustrated the hell out of him. And if we don't get it the first time he's too frustrated to retry ... Feel like we are falling apart and the end is so close

Good nutrition is very important not just during treatments. The first year after finishing rads are just as important to help rebuild the patients body. Every day for at least the next year he should be taking in at least 2500 calories and 48 oz of water.

Try over the counter nutritional drinks like boost very high calorie. Its 560 calories per "can".

Best wishes!

Take one step at a time. It seriously seems his current need is adequate hydration and nutrition. Yes, you can shower with a peg. I used a shower chair, still do, to conserve energy, not lose my balance. If too much weight is lost, the dr may stop treatment due to that, rescan, and have make a new mask which will interrupt treatment again, due to the facial changes, and not want to under radiate or over radiate any areas or worse. Good luck with the peg.

John showers with a piece of Saran Wrap placed over where the tube is. For the secretion around the tube, he cleans it with saline soaked gauze a couple of times a day. Some people cover it with and some don't. Our home care nurse advises covering it in such a way that the gauze soaks up the secretion so that the skin is spared.

Colleen,

For me, the worst part was the Cisplatin in my first round of treatments. It kept me so nauseated that I could only keep down one bottle of ensure plus (350 cal) for 90 days. As a result of that, I lost 38 lbs of mostly muscle, so I know just how he feels.

Encourage him to start planning his physical recovery and his recovery of those lost pounds. Encourage him to engage in as much physical activity as he can stand, and to start as early as the Doctor says he can.

Physical activity, especially strenuous activity, raises the metabolism, and that significantly decreases the side effects of chemo and helps the system excrete it as quickly as possible. If, as you say, he's used to athletic exercise, he should then recover more quickly. Even if it's just walking, have him start as quickly as the Doctor will let him.

Best of luck to you both,

Bart

We have a lab that misses her daddys walks in the eve... He had been doing up until recently.... He won't let dust grow under his feet if he can help it....just need to get through these next few weeks. He does great with chemo, lots of hydration, and antiemetics, steroids... It's this RT that's the brute! It appears you have gone through this more than once but no tx mentioned?what was your tx plan then?

This sounds very familiar as I was there just a short time ago. The last couple of weeks of treatment and the first few weeks of recovery were the worst. I lost a lot of weight and muscle as well and ended up having a PEG put in the last day of treatment.

I've had no issues with it although it's still a strange way to eat. I don't cover mine. The docs said it as long as I kept it clean it was Ok. I shower with it, soap and water to clean around the outside and hydrogen peroxide under the button and around the tube next to my skin. I clean it at least 2-3 times a day.

Your husband sounds like me in that he doesn't want to be fussed over. I hated the fact I wasn't in control (type A).
My partner/caregiver felt helpless at times as you did. The best thing she did for me was let me deal with it and allow me to ask for help when I needed it.

Hang in there! Make sure he's hydrated and takes nourishment. Stay ahead of the nausea and pain and you'll get through it. It's brutal but you'll make it.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

I don't cover mine, but my under shirt does get stained, sometimes. I had this 2nd one for 2.5 years, although I did wrap with Syran wrap for a week after surgery when showering, after that cleaned with soap, water, dried thoroughly, cleaned more with peroxide, applied Bactrim. My first one was covered, gauze underneath, and seemed to harbor more bacteria due to moisture.

Please keep in mind that in the grand scheme of life this is not even a speed bump. That said also keep in mind that for most of us the worst time is and most likely will be for him, the 2 to 3 weeks POST treatment so just be prepared and somehow prepare him for this. I didn't have this site going thru my Tx so when the radiation sessions stopped I thought the worse was over only to find out how much worse I could get which made me wonder about the Tx and my cancer and living. Even my RO's nurse made the comment to me post Tx "oh you poor thing" which told me I was not having a normal reaction to Tx. When I found this site 3 weeks post and told everyone what I was going thru and I needed help, I got a million replies that I was NORMAL and actually doing better than most. Made me feel mentally better.