Hi my mum is having the same problem with her chest it's so bad for her she cannot eat because the pain is so bad.she also was very sick so I took see our g.p who gave her strong painkillers for the pain.GO to your doctor and explain what your husbands is going through they will help you .xx

Hi Kinty

My husband had chemoradiation - 5 riounds of cistplatin and 30 fractions of VMAT for SCC head and neck - primary tonsils. He suffered from horrible acid reflux and took omeprazole to help. He was also terribly nauseas despite trying prochloperazine , cyclizine and metaclopramide and ended up with a patch he wore on his arm with a slow release anti sickness drug so it might be worth adking about that. He also wore 'seabands' pressure point bands on his wrists to see uf this would help - we were happy to give anything a go and these seemed to gelp.

I woukd definitely speak to your oncologist as the treatment is hard enough without the reflux and the nausea - you need to try to sort it out niw as it does get wirse the further i to the treatment you get.

good luck and best wishes

Emma

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, it's devastating when someone you love dearly is suffering in this way..I only found out  Wednesday my mum has lung cancer and will now have this long road ahead of her.. I have been researching how to deal with chemo and the side effects it has.. Try to keep your husband eating small snacks such as a plain soup or easy to swallow snacks with no strong smells..although he may be feeling really sick and not wanting to eat it will make him feel better.. Fruit pastilles are meant to be great for taking the metallic taste away and also give him some sugar for energy..travel sickness wrist bands are sometimes helpful.. I read someone's blog who had just come through chemo themselves and they said you need to take charge as the patient having chemo will feel so wretched they just won't care and will want to give up  so take charge, try make them have small mouthfuls, be there every step of the way but get counselling for yourself and time out.. I wish you both all the very best Xx

Hey Kinty1

My name is Lynne. Just a couple of questions first, which chemo drugs is your husband having and are they given on consecutive days for a period or on one day with a rest period until the next one? It is really down to which drug(s) you are given. I was given Cisplatin last year, one day a week for four weeks alongside radiotherapy. The first two sessions of chemo were OK, tired and nauseous but OK. The third session gave me a temperature of over 40 degrees and a major headache. I was severely told off by the hospital when I told them I'd just taken paracetamol, even though it worked, instead of going straight to a&e. The fourth session gave me the high temperature again but with that I also couldn't breathe properly and a rash on my torso. That time I went to a&e and was looked after until the next day when I was OK to go home. I thought that was a bad experience until I encountered Carboplatin and Paclitaxel in March this year. I had it on one day, three weeks rest for six sessions so roughly over an eighteen week period. Well, like your husband, I didn't know what had hit me. The side effects were so severe that my husband rang the hospital in a blind panic and begged for advice on what to do. The medical professional he spoke to wasn't alarmed as the side effects were on the long list of effects associated with the Paclitaxel especially. So on we soldiered, each time worse than the last until the last session on the 30th June. It is six weeks post chemo and I'm still suffering from the effects and at the last meeting with the doc was advised that the tumour has barely shrunk buy the tumour markers are coming down. Does anyone understand this phenomenon and can explain it to me? After all this my advice would be report any and all side effects straight away to your doctor so they are aware of the problem(s), if the drugs you are given make you feel really bad, say no more of that and demand a different drug (there are hundreds out there), take regular regular painkillers and anti sickness meds, and if they're not working ask for something else, rest and sleep (if you can) as much as you need to, get out in the fresh air when you feel up to it, take all the help that is offered by family and friends, take every day problems and all as it comes, maintain a sense of humour at all times, have a rant if you must and finally never, never, never give up! I apologise if you already know all of this and I sound like a know it all! I hope your husband finds the strength to get through his treatment, I'm sure that with your love and support anything is possible. I send all my love to you both.

LynneF X

Hi again Kinty1

I did go on a bit and really didn't answer any of your questions! Acid reflux is ,as far as I know, a side effect of most chemo drugs. More pillows helps a little and not eating too near bedtime too. A good health shop should be able to advise something, I never got round to doing this and just suffered on. And pain is a big one, where does he get it? Work your way up from paracetamol and don't be scared to take something stronger just to get through a bad period. Heaviness in the chest is a general side effect too, however, I have gone to A&E twice with that to be checked out. Does your husband have the yellow chemo card?Temperature above 37.5c or below 36c or feeling generally unwell, shivering or chills, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties- immediate A&E/ hospital attendance may be required. Nausea and vomiting, another pain in the butt! Was recently prescribed Odansetron and found it quite effective and, if you haven't already, google the MacMillan web site for more info on sickness. You do sometimes wonder why the doctors don't be straight with us when we're being told we're to have chemo, how bad the side effects can be but we don't know how bad it can be until the treatment starts so that's a tricky one. And I suppose if we really did know the truth beforehand, would we go for it or opt out? I suspect we'd still go for it!

Much love LynneF X

Hello, thank you so very much for your replies . ...I have only just seen them, you must think I'm so rude! Please accept my apologies. 

So, clearly we are now months down the line now. The severe reflux issues ended as soon as the chemo drip came outo  (chest pains etc) however, 7 months post treatment, Andy still has a very "claggy" throat. An ENT specialist has now referred him for an MRI. So we are now waiting for that. Xxxx

Hi, thank you for replying, I have only just seen it, please accept my apologies. I'm so sorry to hear your mum's news. It is devastating. How is her treatment going/gone?

You are totally right about 'having to be in charge' I really had to take the helm with Andy, and whilst it didn't feel nice, it had to be done! 

I hope your mum's treatment went well. Much love to you x

Hi Emma, so sorry for my very late reply, I have only just seen this. 

Our LPR issues are still ongoing.....7 months post treatment... and we are now waiting for an appt for an MRI scan. No meds have helped & so the ENT specialist feels we need to make sure there is nothing else going on.

Again thank you for your reply & I hope your husband is doing ok xx

Morning, I'm so sorry for my late reply, I didn't know anyone had commented on my thread. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

Did you mum's symptoms improve post treatment? We are still having difficulties with LPR and are now awaiting an MRI to see what's going on xx