Hi Nicola,

How are you doing?
My mom starts her radiotherapy from tomorrow onwards, she took the expensive treatment which doctor told her that will have less side effect, I hope it does. She told me that her upper neck near her ear have a big swollen there, is that normal?
and can i know that is it completely recover after the radiotherapy? 

Hope you are fine there.

Take care!

Ping

Hi Nicola,

How did your ultrasound scan go? I assume that there was no problem?

Ping - If the swelling you mention is a swollen lymph gland then you may well find that it reduces in size during the radiotherapy. I had an initial swelling that was a swollen lymph node - this was removed for biopsy. Then another one swelled up to the size of half an egg. It slowly disappeared when I was about half-way through the treatment.

Guzzle - Everyone recovers from radiotherapy at different rates. Personally I would not have been comfortable travelling just a few weeks after the treatment had finished but then everyone is different. I couldn't eat, drink or talk for a few weeks and my PEG tube wasn't removed for four months. You may well be fine. I know a lot of people who have sailed through the recovery. Radiation to the head and neck is a funny old business and can do strange things to eating and sleeping habits. As I said, I would not have gone abroad but you may well be okay. You will need to tell your travel insurance company about your situation though.

Simon xx

Good luck Guzzle,

It was at about the stage that you are at now that things started to get a bit tricky for me.

Be prepared to:

1. Ask for stronger pain relief if the need arises (I found that Oramorph was the Rolls Royce of painkillers - everything else was a Ford Cortina in comparison).

2. Ask for a PEG tube if swallowing gets very problematic.

Hopefully you won't need either of the above but be prepared to ask / demand if necessary.

Simon.

Simon week three seems to be the one if you follow the consensus! I wont be shy about painkillers but got some co codemol stocked for starters! Does the rolls royce stuff make you groggy? Not really big on pain killers but realize they  will be essential. Just don't want to be a zombie - at least any more than usual! My Dr. Seems not to be for the peg but if she advises I will do whatever she says to get through. She says if it comes to it she will use nasal tube. What worries me there is in Clatterbridge this means staying in which I just don't fancy one bit. They are keeping me in for my 3 chemo days. Done one overnight and whilst the facility is excellent I just didn't like it. So being stuck in for days / weeks with a tube up.my hooter does not sound like fun! Are you using light excercise to increase energy? And how many beers have you achieved now that you are back in training!

Regards,G.

Hi guzzle

I agree with Simon that oramorph is the best painkiller (as it's morphine!) but I suffered horrendous constipation with it so I'd try to delay taking it for as long as you can!

Happy days!!

Debbie

Hi  All,

This pain at 3 weeks seems strange to me. I suffered no real pain for the duration of the 7 weeks. I had chemo on Fridays as well.

Perhaps I am just insensitive. Has anyone else been without pain?  The consultant told me I would feel discomfort but no real pian, and

so it proved. After the Op. they gave me morphine but it caused me to have hallucinations, so I asked them to stop. The only

problem I had was nightmares in the week or so following the Op. which made me afraid to go to sleep. 

They did remove rather a lot of the internals of my throat so perhaps there was not much left to hurt.

The only discomfort I had was in my bum from being in a semi reclining position for three weeks.

Colin

Colin only slight pain so far. I hope Im as tough as you! Most people report some pain towards end of treatment which can actually stop them from eating. IM hoping it wont get to that,

Regards, G.

Deb, will deffo avoid Oramorph as long as poss. Throat feels a bit better today. Constipation is a hassle U can live without! G

Hi Guzzle,

In answer to your questions....

1. No, Oramorph did not make me groggy. It did deal with the pain and the world seemed a much nicer place once I'd had some! I did get constipated but this may have been due to any one of the several types of medication I was on at the time, including the chemo - they all listed constipation as a side-effect.

2. I used to run between 20 and 30 miles a week. I gave that up during the treatment and I haven't been able to go back to it. No saliva means that I can't really do anything that involves puffing and panting. I bought an excellent cycle machine and I now use that for fitness.

3. I only have one or two small beers a day - that's enough for me. I didn't drink for several months after the treatment because I felt sick much of the time.

Good luck.

Simon.

Simon thanks for the comprehensive answers. Ive just jogged slow 3 miles but I do find it easier going out on my bike. Im only week 3 so Im sure the treatment will catch up with me and Ill slow to a walk if that. Just bough a hat with a flap at the back for the sun which looks ridiculous! Looking forward to getting where you are and enjoying a couple of small beers. G.

Just a quick update Nicola - I'm getting my PEG out this Friday afternoon.  They gave me the choice of 'yanking it out' which entails a couple of seconds of mild pain (some say 'is that it out then'? others describe it like a punch in the stomach) or waiting much longer for a theatre appointment to be put under, have the added risks of anaesthesia and inability to drive home etc etc.  I asked what the majority plump for and they said the former so I took a big breath and said OK let's go for it.  She assured me there would be no after-effects (it's my birthday the following day and my sisters are taking me out for the day), just as I had read, the hole heals up in a couple of hours and there should be no pain or complications at all.  Fingers crossed and will let you know how it went.  She did assure me it's a piece of cake compared to having it put in which I won't forget in a hurry!

Hi Irene,

Good luck on Friday, am sure it will all be fine and have a Happy Birthday on Saturday. Hope your sisters really spoil you.

Hugs

Annabel xx

Hi Irene,

Good luck on Friday, am sure it will all be fine and have a Happy Birthday on Saturday. Hope your sisters really spoil you.

Hugs

Annabel xx