7 More Days Of Treatment!

7 days to go...and seems like it will be the hardest.  his fentynal patch has been boosted to 100mcg and i am very concerned about him driving himself to treatment this week. we live about 30 minutes from the cancer center where he gets treated.  this weekend he has only woken up long enough to get some nutrition in the tube and to cough up the yucky stuff.  i can't imagine him driving!

i would like to know how others did during the last week...were you able to drive yourself to treatment?  he keeps saying he can do it...but i am very worried.

~meesh

Hi Meesh:

Sounds like he is about where my husband was during this time.  Really is awful to watch isn't it?  It is so hard to stand by and not be able to help.  There is so little you can do change how he is feeling.  Just stay on top of his cleanings (teeth, tubes, lines etc.) 

My husband was able to drive all the way thru, but the center is two blocks from home.  I know many are not able to drive.  Our cancer center has volunteers just to drive people to and fro.  It is understandable that he wants to maintain this last bastion of independence, but he needs to consider the ramifications of fatigue and stress.  It would be better to get daily volunteers to take him than run the risk of driving himself further into poor health.

Just my opinion.

Kara

 

I would not have wanted to drive when I was in my last week of treatment, I had no desire nor the energy to do so safely. Luckily, my wife was available to chauffeur me to and from my treatments ( about 20 miles away).  If your husband is like I was, his condition will get worse through his last week and for about 2-3 weeks after, then he will start to improve. Please keep an eye on his energy level, you dont want him to beat cancer only to wind up in the hospital from an accident.

 Best wishes,

Mike

Only you'll be able to tell if he can continue to drive.  I did, but I don't know how my driving was.  I was only a few miles from the cancer center and I'm sure I did OK.  I was on 100mgh of Fentanyl and 25mg x 5 of Oxycodone. 

Sadly the last week isn't the worst.  It was the two weeks following treatment that really kicked my butt.

Good luck and hang in there.

Tom

Hi! So exciting to be almost done.

Our radiologist's office was about 40 minutes from our house, too. My hubbie took himself everyday until the last week and that was when I started driving him.

Only advice I'd give about the couple weeks is to keep up the fluids and even increase them b/c the couple weeks after is when they really get hit the hardest, at least my hubbie did w/ weight loss and fluids.  

 

thank you all for sharing your experiences...tomorrow we agreed he will drive himself unless things change by morning!  since i don't have much choice but work i am going to look into finding transportation for the rest of this week...or getting his treatment time switched to mornings - then i could bring him and go to work after. 

i had heard that the two weeks after treatment are tough...at least during that time he wont have to drag himself out every day.  thank goodness for the PEG tube - he has only lost about 6lbs thus far and has done a good job staying hydrated...some days he had to back off on gatorade because he was so well hydrated the mask felt tight!

it is so hard to see him in such pain...but all of you who have made it through have given me so much hope and encouragement

~meesh

 

On 4/13/2008 micromisterphone wrote:

I would not have wanted to drive when I was in my last week of treatment, I had no desire nor the energy to do so safely. Luckily, my wife was available to chauffeur me to and from my treatments ( about 20 miles away).  If your husband is like I was, his condition will get worse through his last week and for about 2-3 weeks after, then he will start to improve. Please keep an eye on his energy level, you dont want him to beat cancer only to wind up in the hospital from an accident.

 Best wishes,

Mike

Seems like most of you think 2 weeks after radiation ends are the worst. Does the never-ending thick saliva slow down after that? My husband finished chemo and radiation to the neck week and a half ago. The saliva is killing him! He's on PEG tube but the mucus is just too much. He's either chocking on it, or manages to swallow it and then gets nauseated from all the gung in his stomach. Any suggestions, and timelines would be great.

 

On 4/13/2008 Zeebra wrote:

 

On 4/13/2008 micromisterphone wrote:

I would not have wanted to drive when I was in my last week of treatment, I had no desire nor the energy to do so safely. Luckily, my wife was available to chauffeur me to and from my treatments ( about 20 miles away).  If your husband is like I was, his condition will get worse through his last week and for about 2-3 weeks after, then he will start to improve. Please keep an eye on his energy level, you dont want him to beat cancer only to wind up in the hospital from an accident.

 Best wishes,

Mike

Seems like most of you think 2 weeks after radiation ends are the worst. Does the never-ending thick saliva slow down after that? My husband finished chemo and radiation to the neck week and a half ago. The saliva is killing him! He's on PEG tube but the mucus is just too much. He's either chocking on it, or manages to swallow it and then gets nauseated from all the gung in his stomach. Any suggestions, and timelines would be great.

 

 

The thick mucus will get better.  It took several weeks post treatment before my husband noticed it getting better, it is a gradual process.  It seems like for us everything took a little longer than we expected.  It is a long process, but it does get better.  My husband finished his 33 radiation treatments and 2 rounds of cisplatin the first week of December.  It is hard to see improvement on a daily basis, but when you look back a week or two it is amazing.  He is 4 months out and the mucus is a thing of the past.  His spit bucket has officially been retired.  :)  He got his feeding tube out about a month ago and is able to eat a wider variety of things all the time.  It is a little strange though, the first couple of bites usually taste good, but after that it comes and goes.  This experience has definitely taught us patience.  It has been rough, and there were times I didn't think we would get through another day, but it does get better.  Things are slowly getting back to a new normal. 

Hi ! I was wandering how the last 7 days went. My husband id down to 5 more days. Deb