Hi Shane, congratulations on finishing your treatment. Hoping for good news for you when you have your follow up scans.  Hubby finished his treatment for head and neck cancer 3 weeks this Friday. The first two weeks post treatment were horrendous for him, constant vomiting, gagging, on the mucous etc. slightly better this week but still happens at times. Feeding tube was removed today so that’s a step in the right direction but think it will be quite some time before he can have more than liquid drinks.  He has scans 12th Dec, results 17th so fingers crossed. It was very similar to your cancer, tonsil and multiple lymph nodes. HPV.  anyway best wishes again.  Julie ... View more

And congratulations on beating this beast of a disease. Wishing you continue(if different) good health.  ... View more

Thanks so much for your reply. My comment about vomiting was he truly hasn’t vomited once, he felt like it but hadn’t up till tonight. Then he made up for it 🤮 He’s still in hospital after the PEG insertion, they haven’t been able to up the rate too fast because of the nausea. They still bring him a tray of food at every mealtime, soup, jelly, custard, that kind of thing. ( he  just doesn’t want to eat it) I was encouraging him to try and get some down, now I feel bad as I really think he probably has this taste thing where everything tastes rancid. I think he will just rely on the PEG and sounds like that’s ok. He can drink water still ok at the moment. He’s not a big guy, started at 88 kg but is down to 82 already.  I will show him this thread and see if I can encourage him to join in. I think it might be helpful.  He’s not one for sitting around, he’s pretty active,(usually) not much of a TV watcher. But this has just zapped his energy and he feels he can’t concentrate on anything. I get the distraction thing, we have all tried, puzzle books, jigsaws, headphones to listen to music, books, podcasts etc. but so far he hasn’t wanted to try. Did you have any counselling to get you through this? I thought it may be helpful but don’t know who or where to ask.    ... View more

  Hi Bill, I’m new to the game, well not me but my husband. I’ll chime in and say please, finish your treatment, take whatever pain meds they’ll give you to dull the pain, but please, you are so close to the end of the race.  Sounds like the end of the race, isn’t actually the end, just the end of that battle.  I’ve read through all 25 pages of this thread for the last few hours.  Hubby is in hospital after having a peg put in, he’s week 3 into his treatment. He also just had his 2nd chemo. He’s had a bad few days and today was the worst. I left the hospital feeling afraid and confused. He said I don’t understand. It’s true, I can only watch and feel helpless sometimes. He won’t read anything, no literature etc so he really only goes by what the Drs tell him.  I came searching for something to help me understand. Hearing your stories, terrifies me and at the same time it’s helpful. I would rather know what to expect. He has stage 4 cancer. Left tonsil, multiple lymph nodes, much like yours Bill. They can’t operate. It’s pressing on the jugular vein. It’s Squamous Cell Carcinoma.  I was trying to get him to try some soup tonight, to just try. He’s lost 6 kg already and he’s not a big bloke. He was almost having a panic attack trying to eat. He’s right I didn’t understand. Then he vomited, over and over and brought up most of the tube feed that took 40mls an hour to go in.  I felt terrible.I wish he would read these stories, not to scare him, but to know that others understand what he is going through. Somewhere to vent and get it out of his system to people who do understand.  Thankyou all for being brave enough to share your journey. From a scared and helpless wife.  ... View more

He hasn’t even vomited after chemo.   Thank you for sharing your story....it gives me some hope.  August 19th my husband was diagnosed with cancer in his left tonsil and multiple lymph nodes. They say they can’t operate as the tumours are too close to vital blood vessels etc.  It is stage 4 A which they say is treatable. It’s from the HPV virus. He is in week 3 of intensive chemo and radiotherapy together. He is currently in hospital after having a PEG put in last Wednesday. He was having increasing difficulty eating and swallowing from the effects of radiotherapy.  His mouth is a mess already,  ulcers are beginning. They say it will get a lot worse before it gets better.  He is really worried about coming home with the PEG and how he will cope.    He is usually a strong man, he works hard and who just gets on with things but this has brought him to his knees. It is hard to watch someone going through this but not as hard as being the patient I’m sure.  ‘I think he is getting anxiety which is hardly surprising. One of his Drs says he should still try to swallow and eat a bit so the muscles keep, working but he is getting terrified to eat and gets worked up just thinking about it. I tried to encourage him tonight to try some soup. He forced himself to try and quickly vomited it up and then kept vomiting. He also had his 2nd chemo the day after the PEG was put in so feels pretty nauseous with that for a few days.  Any tips on how I can help him get through this? ... View more