Sore Throat

It has been 5 weeks since my husband had his last radiation treatment for base of tongue cancer. He has started to feel better and is trying to do alittle more each day. The one area that has not really shown much improvement is his throat. He say's it is very sore and it is hard for him to swallow. I was hoping that by now he would beable to start eating some soft foods, but trying to swallow water or gatoraid has been so painful that he does not even try any food.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

God bless you all

Deb

Everyone is different, but it sounds pretty normal to me.  I was on a lot of pain meds and it still took me a long while to start eating.

my guy is 6 weeks post treatment...his throat is still extremely sore...the only thing he can tolerate swallowing is very thin instant mash potatos, chicken broth and iced tea....and it is in very small amounts 3 times a day...i have had to really keep after him to keep trying.  his doctors want him to set aside 3x a day to make an attempt at swallowing soft foods.

we tried baby food fruits...they all burned going down.

this is way harder than we ever imagined. 

~meesh

I finished my radiation Oct 15 of last year and I was still having trouble at Thanksgiving, so I guess he's not having an abnormally bad time. I had liquid oxycodone, which helped a lot with the throat pain, see if they will prescribe some for him. I had tonsillar cancer, so maybe the recovery times are a little different.

Hope he feels better soon

Mike

 

Debalou, Like Meesh stated even baby food burned going down. I am exactly 2 week past radiation and still experiencing soreness and ulcerated mouth sores. Tongue is still slow to respond with taste being limited to salt. Sweets are sometimey and only hints are coming through, not actual taste. Small success with vanilla milkshakes with vanilla instant breakfast in them. Small success with broth and potato soup with broccoli, only about 1/4 cup. Everything flour-based like bread, crackers, etc. is pasty and abysmal. Gatorade in tiny amounts is alright, any more is uncomfortable. Room temp water is ok, cold stuff is gradual in getting used to it. The milk in the milkshakes is comforting though-doesn't affect my ulcers or hurt my tongue. About 10 days in, last Saturday, my voice suddenly got stronger and the phlegm subsided-literally overnight. Each day has been a notch better. I hope your situation is the same with each day bringing more and more comfort and strength. All the best!