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Excessive mucous after throat cancer treatment: How did you cope?
My husband is a week post op TORS surgery for throat cancer,, at the base of his tongue, he also had his tonsils removed as well as 36 lymph nodes,,, he has NON stop excessive mucous forming,, he feels
Like he’s drowning, surgeon says it’s normal,,,, any one out there experiencing the same thing????
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@sophie411, I can imagine that this is an unwanted roller coaster. It's hard to be the caregiver. You're involved and on the sidelines at the same time.
How did the trach removal go today?
@colleenyoung Well he was in the hospital for a week he just got home this past Sunday,,he had developed a massive blood clot in his lungs It has been removed and now he is on Blood Thinners...It was very scary the doctor did say that unforunatley it is something that can happen from the chemo and the pic line. We met yesterday with his ENT and Everything looks great he said that he reacted very well to the chemo and radiation now we have to get him to swallow and eat which is a whole new battle...so the plan is to get the cap for the trach and he wants to see how he tolerates it and it will be removed on May 19th if all goes well..while he was in the hospital they had changed the trach to a cuffed due to intibation so the doctor wanted to put the regular on back in first..his last weigh in was 243 now he is 215.5 which I dont think is bad,,we are plugging along just ALOT...ALOT ALOT....
@sophie411 This is a long and tortuous road for sure. I went through radiation/chemo in 2012, A family member is a few weeks out after finishing his 7 week treatment. He also has avoided swallowing due to persistent gagging. The feeding tube is a life saver but they must retrain themselves to swallow as healing occurs. A speech therapist is vital in encouraging and directing this endeavor. Is pain an issue for your husband? I used a lot of lidocaine oral gel to reduce pain when eating and drinking, as I had no stomach tube. You can't do their work for them, but you can encourage and make sure his support team is award of his issues. There are so many mental aspects of cancer treatment and it is common to feel like you are left dangling with no further treatment, just wait and see. Therapy at this stage can be helpful to keep his attitude positive.
@sepdvm When I ask him if he is having any pain he has said no. He said he just as no desire. We have our appointment with his ocologist on the 30th for his hyrdration..I am hoping by then we will see some progress..I have seen him swallow so he has the abilty,,I think he is scared at the moment it has been a lot he has the feeding tube which has been a God Send..that is due to come out after the Pet Scan in June...
I haven't read through all the responses, so this may have already been mentioned but my doctor prescribed a drug called Robinul. It dries up secretions but can leave you with dry mouth (I did not have that side effect). It's worth a try!!