Hi Wendy. My husband is 12 weeks out of treatments today. He had 35 IMRT treatments and 7 weeks (1 x a week) of Cisplatin. He had a thick head of grey hair and a beard before treatments started. The Cisplatin caused permanent hearing loss in both ears. The hearing loss did not show up until after he was done treatments. He didn't loose all his hair but it really thinned out a lot, very noticeable. He lost all his facial hair from the radiation but it is slowly.....growing back. The hair on the back of his neck just started growing back last week - baby fuzz. Best wishes to you and your husband. Wanda

Wendy just droppin in to say I am so glad you are here. There is no better place to be. Please share whatever you feel you need to share not only the technical stuff but the O my why do I feel this way? stuff too!! It has gotten me through some tough caregiver hurdles and kept me sane!
haha on the giving you the finger...Bob had surgery last Thursday and a very caring friend asked " what were the last words you said before he went in" Well they were "bite me" he was busting on me about the surgical waiting room at the hospital becasue he had to wait there for me (minor outpatient thing) so he was teasing and I said Bite Me the orderly was taken aback but it made him laugh as he was wheeled away.
We also had some very baaad dark humor jokes that got us through his cancer treatment five years ago ..when repeated my friends exclaimed O thats awful but it was our thing and any humor is better than no humor !! Please remember you have lots of friends here that understand.

My wife can be pretty cruel at times. When we were waiting at Moffitt to see the Oral Surgeon (the first appt I had with Moffitt) we were given a pager and told we could wait out in the main lobby entrance of Moffitt. We knew the doctors name and it sounded like he was East Indian so every East Indian doctor that walked through the main lobby she would jab me and say "I wonder if that's him?". Well one really overweight such doctor walked by and of course she jabbed me but she added "I can just see it now, he's standing over you in the operating room with a knife in his hand and suddenly he has a heart attack and slumps over and stabs you in the neck!". He disappeared and a minute later our pager goes off and now I'm sitting in the exam room and guess who walks in and guess who jabbed me again.

David....that is a hilarious story

Wendy,
Good luck with your appt. tomorrow. I didn't think that I could do this caregiver role either. I am not going to say that it's not easy but it is doable. Things fall into place when they need too and you just keep perging forward.
Pat

Keeep your chin up wendy.

good luck
liz

Thanks everyone. Your support and advise makes this so much easier. Just wondering if anyone has any advise on how to get a man to take serious possible side effects. We have cream for his skin, mouth washes to help with any sores etc but do you think I can get him to use them regularly. I know he feels like crap but if he doesn't use this stuff he's going to feel a whole lot crappier. Any idea's on how to convince him to be vigilant with this stuff before he learns the hard way. Is it a man thing, not wanting to care for yourself. How do you get someone to step up and care about their own health. I know he's doing treatment which I am so grateful for but I'm really concerned about more pain from side effects, just wish I could get it across to Steve how important all of this stuff is.

I had the same problems with Rex he would not use any of the tools that they gave him. It wasn't until he hit his bottom that he started to use the rinses etc. He wouldn'teven use the pain pill.s He is starting to use this stuff now, I think he knows that it helps me feel better.
I didn't ask for this job, but it has been given to me. I can only do what I can that's what Ihad to come to realize i can't force anyone to do anything. I had to put it in God's hands
Pat

Thanks Pat, your advise is very helpful. I think Steve will have to hit rock bottom before he realises as well. But he's a big boy and as much as I want to, I can't force him to do things. Nice to know others out there had the same issues as well.

Wendy, some members here have printed out pages from OCF and given them to their patient to read. For the most stubborn patients, the caregivers have 'accidently' left printed pages lying in places that they would be read by the patient. That has helped several on here to get the important points across.