More Chemo

Hi Maria, I am very sorry to hear that you and Joe are going through chemo again.  Best wishes for successfully overcoming this latest set back.  My diagnosis came shortly after Joe's (July 2008), and this is quite sobering how the cancer can return after so long.  We'll be thinking of you, Rick

Thanks Rick.  The only "encouraging" thing about this situation is that these 4 nodules have been there for over a year and only 1 of the 4 nodules has been growing very, very slowly.  Also, recent CT and PET scans showed no cancer anywhere else.   Joe could have waited and they would have continued to monitor the growing nodule; however, his onocologist said that since it has been confirmed that the nodule is malignant, it could just take off in between scans and the cancer could spread anywhere.  His oncologist feels that this round of chemo should clean up everything.

The medication that I bought him yesterday for the mouth sores has help to ease the pain and we are working on finding nutritious (and non-nutritious) things that he can eat.  So far, he's down 5 lbs. since last week and I plan to bake this weekend and hopefully he will be able to regain some of the weight he lost before the next treatment.

Maria

Maria if you have a Walgreen's in your area try to find bene-calorie for weight gain. this product is clear,tasteless and its added to foods and drinks.  I hope it helps Joe. Take Care and GOD Bless.  Phil A.

I am so very sorry to read of this.  The mouth sores are pretty ugly.  I am glad you found some meds that seem to be helping.  I used a solution of baking soda and warm water with a little salt and swished with that several times a day.  My doctor prescribed Lidocai/diphen/rulox/nystatin.  That was to help with the mouth sores and prevent a yeast infection from starting.  They also prescribed mycelex 10 mc troche, however, that did not work.  Then they switched me to Diflucan 100 mg tablet.  That one did the trick.  It is so hard to know what will work for different individuals because we are all different.    One good thing about the baking soda solution, when I had my dental checkup my teeth were so clean the dental hygienist didn't have to do anything.  Strangely, I found that chicken broth and some of the salty broths actually brought some relief.  Keep us posted.  Perhaps at the end of the 3 months he will be completely NED.

We will all be praying for you both.  Only God knows the reason things go like they do.  One day we will understand....until then, keep positive.

Thanks Phil, we do hav a Walgreen's close by and I will check into getting him some.

Maria

Thanks for the info. on the mouth sore meds.  I'm really hoping he can avoid them next time all together but, if not, I know he has options. 

I had to laugh when I read your post about the salty broths.  Joe and I have had this long-standing argument over chicken flavored ramen noodles that he just loves.  When he first was diagnosed and had difficulty swallowing, that's all he ate.  I used to say to him, those packaged noodles are nothing but salt and have no nutrional value.  Well, with this last chemo treatment, the chicken-flavored Ramen noodles still tasted good.  So, I told him he should start adding things to it.  He's put in frozen corn into the soup and that tasted good.  I also bought some frozen peas that he's going to try adding.  He also added in a whisked egg while the soup was boiling (makes sort of like an egg drop soup) and said that tasted delicious -- I'm thrilled and will never again complain about Ramen noodles!

Thanks for your encouraging words and prayers.

Maria 

We had to have Benecalorie ordered from Walgreen's...but Pat hated it. It's like a little container of fat. He thought it had a taste, so maybe it was rancid...noticed Phil said it has no taste and have never heard anyone complain as much as Pat did about it.

I was going to recommend the salt water and baking soda swish too...Pat did it whether he had them or not and had very few and they cleared up in a day rather than getting worse.

Sorry you are dealing with it again. I still peek at the board occasionally. Pat is in hospice at home. The last recurrence got away from us when there was no 5FU available and he wanted a break. Closing in on 6 years since dx, but doubt he will make it till December. Really...it's been over six years since he was not diagnosed for so many months. Not bad for Stage IVb EC. We knew we would lose sooner or later with the number of recurrences he had.

Prayers and blessings to you and Joe.

Maria, so sorry about Joe's recurrence. Tough to go back on chemo; my husband had to go back on chemo also back in July. Did they test your Joe for HER2; if not, I owuld urge you to ask your oncologist about it. We really thnk the Herceptin is the reason my husband is responding so well this time around.

There's another OTC med for mouth sores that I use for canker sores....it's called Ora Base.  It's can be a little hard to find, but I've found it at all types of drug stores. i always keep it in the cupboard for a canker sore outbreak.  It numbs (like OraJel for babies) but it's a very think paste that stays in place right on the sores....salive doesn't seem to wash it off, so the relief lasts a couple hours.  It's the best thing I've found for my life-long recurrent canker sores.

Weight is a mojor concern with my husband also.I've been making smoothies using Carnation Instant Breakfast. I add milk, some protein powder (1/2 as much as the label states, because if I add more he complains about the taste), some blue agave syrup sweetener (since his esophagectomy sugar causes diarrhea), some bee pollen for energy, a handful of frozen berries and sliced frozen bananas.  He actually likes the taste, I can change up the fruits for variety, and it seems to be helping.  He can't drink them for a couple days after chemo due to the cold sensitivity from the Cisplatin, but the rest of the time he'll drink them a couple times a day. I haven't tried chocolate flavor yet, but I'm planning to look for some sugar free chocolate at the health food store today. You may have to experiment a little to get a flavor Joe will drink, but it's worth a try!

Tongrenhealer, I am sorry to hear about Pat's present condition and have followed both of you since 2007, when I was first diagnosed. I will keep Pat and you both in my prayers and thoughts daily. I miss seeing your info on the board's but now understand why. God Bless you both.  Phil A.

Hello everyone,

My name is Jessica I'm using my husband account, Paul, who was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma of the esophagus to the liver.  I couldn't help but notice the topic of mouth sores.  I'm physician in a large teaching hospital.  When I was an intern I often had to treat patient's undergoing chemotherapy.  I found the following concoction to be effective in treating mouth sores.  We called it Miles Magic Mouthwash.  This is how I prescribe it: 

Viscous lidocaine, nystatin, maalox in three equal parts (5ml each) swish and spit q4h prn mouth sores

Hope this helps