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Your tips for recovery after 35 radiation treatments for tonsil cancer
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (144)Comment receiving replies
@dragonfire I am so sorry you are going through this. It's HELL! And, I am just about 10 months out of treatment and can't even believe how far I've come. It is so hard to be hopeful, but I (and most people on this forum) are living proof that it does get better. You will be able to eat real food. Your taste will come back (maybe not all the way), but you will find things you like. I remember craving loaded nachos! And while the salsa and hot peppers are still a bit more than I can handle, I can eat the chips, the guac, the refried beans, cheese, lettuce... It's heaven. I posted early on about palliative care doctors. If you have access, please let them know your struggles with dry mouth, pain, constipation. Your quality of life matters, and these docs can really help you. Peace be with you.
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@jkhagen1
I appreciate your response so much. Yes, trying to be hopeful for an impatient person like myself is very difficult. I have moved forward with trying different food other than chunky soup. I actually was a able to eat a donut with limited taste. I have found hamburger in gravy I can eat and swallow. I tried just a taste of my wife's green chili and that was a no go just too spicy right now. My goal from my AI research indicates that eating turkey by thanksgiving should be possible since that will be 7 weeks since treatment so that is my new goal. This whole living nightmare has delayed my retirement plans. I was going to retire the first of the year but going to delay. My Oncologist wants me to inform him of my grand plans for my future at my next appointment on Dec 1. I don't know how to be glowing with all that has happened and this very slow recovery. The pain, emotional highs and lows, the cost has been all consuming. I have talked with my social worker who believes I have made progress but it is still very difficult. This forum has permitted me to reach out to others that went through this same HELL.