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Missing late end radiation treatments due to uncontrollable coughing
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Mar 27, 2023 | Replies (9)Comment receiving replies
Hello. I'm sorry you're going through this. My husband is at about the same stage of treatment as your husband. I'm also a hospice RN so in my opinion he needed some symptom management. Does he have an opioid pain reliever? That will help control the cough. He could take it 45 minutes to an hour before radiation and it should be effective during treatment. Also, is her doing tube feedings? My husband lost 22 pounds really fast and I put him on a strict schedule with the tube feedings and medications. His cancer team is happy with his progress and he's been able to put back on some of the weight. Good luck to you both.
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Thank you so much for connecting with me and providing what sounds like some good advice. I too am sorry you are going through this..
After telling our medical oncologist and radiation oncologist we were going to palliative care they immediately responded that he didn't need that but now there were some things they could do to help manage his symptoms. They are prescribing medrol, tessalon and hydrocotin but I need to keep reminding them that he can't swallow pills and needs some form of liquid.
Also, as for tube feedings (PEG tube in the stomach) we have had some very bad experiences with that including no surgical post op or training (finally was able to secure that but it took a while), 2 trips to the ER, the tube falling out less than using it for 5 feedings, etc. Right now neither one of us is comfortable doing the feedings after the surgeon reinserted the tube in a painful procedure 4.5 hours after it fell out and told us he couldn't guarantee that this wouldn't happen again. However. I'm thinking we are going to have to find some kind of way to get them done. Any ideas? How many feedings a day would we need to do?
We are still continuing to talk with Palliative Care Services for additional help.