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Sleeping a lot after Radiotherapy

Else_jonsi
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My husband had a Parotid Gland Saliva Lymph Nodes and a little bit of the muscle removed due to Cancer in the Parotid Gland. He had 6 weeks going daily Monday to Friday to have radiotherapy which he finished just before christmas last year. Lately he is sleeping a lot coming home from work and sitting in the chair and within 5 minutes he is asleep and will sleep for an hour or more which on some occasions i've had to wake him up. Is this normal or should we be concerned and go back and see the Dr ?. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

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    Hi Else

    I had the same operation 10 years ago for metastatic skin SCC in one parotid gland. The radiotherapy was very tough to get through and left me exhausted for months. The doctor said it should not have this effect once a few months have passed. Had thyroid checked in case of damage from treatment but all OK. It did get a bit better after a couple of years but I've never regained my previous energy levels and like your husband often fell asleep after work. Could be down to getting older but he should see GP for a check up.

    Ed

  • Offline in reply to Farmer_Ed

    Hi thank you for this I’ll get him to go to the doctors for a check up this week. We have got an appt to get the recent scan results at the end of this month so I’ll mention it to the dr and our cancer nurse then. Thank you again. 

  • Hi there and thanks for the post

    I am sorry to hear about your husbands treatment for a parotid tumour last year and the tiredness he is currently experiencing.

    Whilst many patients can experience lingering bouts of fatigue if this is something new it is best to get his GP to take a look at him.

    There could be lots of different reasons for this but the doctor can assess him further and run some tests just to make sure nothing else is going on.

    Do get back in touch if you need to.

    Best wishes to you both.

    Naomi

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