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Mucus / Sleeping Difficulties

Charleygirl.
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Hi All. 
 

sitting waiting with my husband to go to his second chemotherapy as part of his 6 week treat plan for tonsil cancer. 
he is struggling greatly with the thick mucus which he struggles to clear, especially at night. Tried nebulising but this just dries his mouth so much & at night he feels as though he is choking. 
so he's not sleeping well, he started with a positive mindset but now its really tough & is very pessimistic. 
 

he struggles swallowing, is hungry though he has a rig feeding tube but this has been so uncomfortable for him that he loathes using it. So all round he is finding it all very difficult. 
 

grateful for any tips & advice to get him though 

 

thanks

 CharleyGirl 

  • A very warm welcome to the Cancer Chat community CharleyGirl although I'm sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis and the difficulties he's having at the moment.

    One of our members [@RadioactiveRaz]‍ has a lot of experience with this so hopefully she will pop by when she can to offer you her support and advice.

    Hopefully some of our other members who have been through this will share their experiences and advice with you soon as well but if you'd like to discuss any of this with one of our cancer nurses, you can give them a call on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m. 

    In the meantime, make sure your husband's treatment team are aware of the issues he is having as they will be able to help him manage this and any other side effects that may occur as he continues with his chemo.

    I hope this helps and things become more manageable for your husband soon.

    Best wishes to you both,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

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    Hi Charley girl I'm Hazel fast approaching 5 years post treatment for tonsil cancer with several affected lymoh nides my blog might help www.RadioactiveRaz.wordpress.com. 
    inwas using a nebuliser up,to 6  times a day and copious amounts of tissues and spitting the thick mucus out not pleasant but necessary. If he can't swallow don't persist the feeding tubes there for a reason my ng tube was my life line it saved my life all my water feed and medication went thoug(nit. The treatments brutal yiu can't fight it just go with it. 
    tip,for nebuliser yiubcan out plain boiled water let it cool into nebuliser less drying then the saline sachets. We are told to use duraphat toothpaste but uts ok for a while to switch to oranurse there's no sleep in that less drying and less painful. Any questi8ns just ask. Take it all ine day at a time 

    Hazel xx aka RadioactiveRaz 

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