Healing process after throat cancer treatments: What to expect?

I forgot to mention...I completely lost my voice. Not having a voice was really difficult. I used an app that converts text to speech.
My daughter made calls for me, appointments, etc.
My voice has returned. 🙂

Hello @sherryfulk.
Beginning treatment was a terrifying yet exciting time for me, wanting to be rid of this cancer and yet fearful of the side effects. While my cancer was ear, not throat , the scatter radiation caused oral ulcers and the targeted therapy Cetuximab caused other side effects. The oncology staff did a great job of adding in nausea drugs and steroids as I needed them later in treatment. Oral lidocaine gel is something I requested to use prior to attempting eating so that I could tolerate the pain of swallowing. Magic mouthwash was a temporary pain reliever. I did not use a stomach tube but looking back I think it would have been easier to get nutrition in if I had. Make sure that you utilize the experience of the team by keeping them informed of all issues. Don't wait and try to fix it all yourself. They have the solutions.

As to alternative/complementary treatments, the doctors don't know if these could possible interfere with standard treatments as there are no studies. Doing some research yourself can offer some potentially helpful pathways, but perhaps better done post primary treatments. One thing I wish I had known about was Manuka Honey for healing. I would have been using that as a mouthwash diluted, and swallowing it to help healing and fight infection. The question is.......is it also healing to the cancer cells? I haven't seen that answer (no studies). As a veterinarian I would never take Fenbendazole for anything other than a parasitic infection under doctor's orders. Look toward other sources of immune stimulation like Beta Glucan and medicinal mushrooms. Here are a couple of books that I have found very useful:
The Rebel's Apothecary by Jenny Sansouci, and
How Not to be My Patient by Ed Creagan MD, a Mayo palliative care doctor.

During treatment, consuming calories is key, whether they are particularly healthy ones or not. I looked forward to a weekly frozen mocha drink from Panera every trip back from chemo/radiation.....600 calories of fat and sugar but tasted great! There are so many protein drink sources now that you can find something tolerable, even if he has to hold his breath to drink it! We are here to support you by sharing our hints from our experiences. You and your husband are not alone in this battle and you both can get through it. Do you have an extended support system at home? Are there family and friends who can share in caregiving? If so, take them up on their offers. You will need a break to keep yourself healthy. Be strong.

@sherryfulk ,
I just completed chemo/radiation March 12 and here is my experience re: eating/feeding tube. I stopped oral intake of everything (except water) about week 4 (half way through). For me, it was a singular incident of vomiting Ensure that made me completely lose my appetite. I lost 23 pounds (I started at 133, so it was a significant loss). My feeding tube was placed 5 days after chemo/radiation ended. The tube is not pleasant, but I need nutrition! It was painful for the first 10 days (which I think is unusual). I had muscle spasms (lidocaine patch helped me sleep) and once the stiches (secured with buttons) were removed, I finally felt some relief. I am beginning to try different foods orally, and swallowing is not easy, but not painful. Healing from the chemo/radiation (in my case) seems to be harder than the treatment itself. Yes, I've had some bumps in the road, especially with chemo, but I haven't experienced a lot of pain in my throat/mouth (my tumor was base of tongue/tonsil). I don't want to do this again, EVER, but I do have confidence that the treatment was solid and the long term outlook of being cancer free is promising. I'm at patient at Mays Cancer Center in San Antonio. This is a scary diagnosis (as I'm sure most cancer diagnoses are). Of course you and your spouse question the process (I did!) AND... I think the collective wisdom of this group is super helpful. Nobody's experience is the same, but I do think you'll find at least one or two posts that will offer great advice and ideas for getting through the treatment. I pray for your hope and stamina and his courage to continue. Peace be with you.

nlovejoy here's my experience for what it's worth... First off I applaud your husband for not being afraid of the feeding tube. So many are for some reason but my team practically insisted I have it and I'm grateful that they did. I had it placed before starting treatment of 35 radiation and 6 chemo sessions and it allowed me to maintain my nutrional needs throughout. When treatments ended late June '24 I still could not swallow anything not even water so I continued to rely solely on the feeding tube. I finally had it removed in October and now have nothing but a very small scar to show for it. My advice is to make sure he can swallow well enough to replace the feeding tube calories with regular food calories before having it removed but it sounds like he's already doing better than I was at that stage so it may be sooner than later. In terms of recovery, I recall after treatments ended that I was frustrated with the pace of recovery. Terrible throat pain, always tired and very bad mucous/thrush were my main issues that seemed to persist. But just as my team had said it simply takes time and one day magically I turned the corner. Presently, 9 months post treatment I can eat pretty much anything but need liquid to wash it down. Hang in there it does get better and there is quality of life after this very challenging ordeal. All the best!

Julie, Thank you so much for sharing and I am so sorry tou are going through this! I work on the OR so for me my mind automatically goes to how can I fix this and the things I have seen makes me completely gun shy of the Chemo. He started that today and I had to go sit in my jeep to get through a bad crying panic attack. Just the thought of them even putting in an IV made me nauseous. We have been together 35 years, married when I was still in high school and I felt like I was destroyed today because there was bothing I could do for him.

They have definitely pushed getting a feeding tube but I am hell bent on making sure he does not need one, at least that is my hope for him. He was diagnosed 6 weeks ago and already started treatment. Unfortunately I go down that Chemo rabbit hole and it destroys me on the inside. Sometimes too much knowledge is worse than being ignorant. I am glad youbare doing well! I wish we had more awareness and support where we are from. It is difficult not having someone to talk to that understands.

Hi Sue,
I spoke with his Rad Onc dr and he had nonissues with some of the herbs I inquired about but to be on the safe side we agreed not to use them as of right now . I am a Surg Tech so I have lots of access to medical help but only have our adult kids and their spouses to really rely on. We are normally very orovate about our lives so Mother in law is mad that I would not allow her to make a spectacle of him and his cancer and get attention like she did when his brother was going theough treatment ( different type of Ca and he oassed away 2 1/2 yrs ago). All she cared about was "I have to tell the family". So no, we do not have a big support system, unfortunately. He has not heard from his mom since the week he was diagnosed (the last week of Feb. ) and she lives 10 mins away from us and there is wuite a history with her.

Jody, thank you for sharing! What you said makes alot of sense. I work in the OR and am so used to fixing people and seeing everything, the good and the bad. I just dont want that for him. I know what the side effects ar le and what chemo does to the human body. I am not saying the Drs are wrong and we had ALOT thrown at us over the last 5 weeks with almost no support system other than my sister, our adult kids and their spouses so I certainly feel overwhelmed along with so manynither emotions it is hard to process.

@sherryfulk I certainly understand your situation. Cancer is devastating to all involved and it is a life changer for sure!
I never thought I would be on disability and not able to work. This was very difficult for me because I have been working since I was a child. I was only 54 when I was diagnosed and was ordered to stop working.
I have many post treatment issues that I deal with daily and I fully understand why I was ordered to go on disability.
I think my wife needed support more than I did, I kind of went into seclusion for a bit.
Feel free to message me anytime if you need information, a shoulder or even to vent.
Wishing you the best
MOJO

MOJO,

Thank you sooooo much! We lost my brother in law (hubby's brother) a little over 2 years ago from a stroke that was due to side effects from his appendix and "jelly belly" cancer. EVERYTHING about his cancer, treatment etc was broadcast for lack of a better term. Widow sis in law (who is also feiends with my hubbys ex fiance) had decreased her posts about how much she missed him until she found out my hubs has cancer now. The fb posts ramped right back up, almost like she has tonstaynin the spot light. Hubby and I are the polar opposite. We keep things very private. The day of his biopsy, labs, 2 nd scope and CT confirming it was cancer all his mom could say "well that's not the news we wanted to hear". Of course it's not but it could of been much much worse news. And all she could focus on was tellin widow sis in law which she bulldozed over me and hubby to do. Anyway, she kept texting him asking how he was doing wich is innocent enough but he tried telling her he wanted to do things like he normally does. So she texts wanting to know his treatment days / time etc. He had not even had the PET scan done or ANY of the lab results back yet. So i texted her, sort of pitting her back in her lane. Neither of us had heard out of her or ANY of his family since then but w also dis not share any details to them either. Fast forward to last week, gave our daughter permission to be the contact oerson for them. She ket them know his dx, treatment plans, that he dies NOT want to talk about the cancer etc but would love to hear from them about anything else. She and us have not heard a word from his side and it is a shane because he needs to feel loved and supported. As a spouse it is hell seeing someone you live go thru something like this and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I hate that they inject him with toxic chemicals but i cant stop it, i cant stop what it will do to him. All i can do is be there for him however he needs me. I had a full blown panick attack Tuesday at the Chemo place. I could not watch them put his IV in because I knew what would follow and ai cried the entire time. I have been struggeling with him having to have chemo since they told us. I don know what it is but I just feel in my soul that Chemo is not what he needs. I am not a dr but the radiation dr did check and he can have turmeric and curcumin in small doses. So inwas not entirely wring on that par at least. Sorry to ramble.