Hello Everyone,

I have only written once before,quite some time ago. My husband, who has Huntington's Disease, diagnosed in Dec. 2005, also has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. He will be starting chemo and radiation this coming week, and I am very concerned that these treatments may accelerate his disease. Has anyone had any experience with caring for a phd, who also has cancer? I would appreciate any input on this subject. I forgot to mention his CAG is 41. Thank you.

Dutchygil

that`s hard. I m so sorry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2011 05:49PM by sarmiento.

hello Dutchygil,
My brother Paul was in late stage HD, when they found he had lung cancer that was quite a large tumor. At that time, due to his failing health with HD, they did not recommend any kind of treatment. (my brother also did not want any, so that made it easier to make the decisions.) He lived for almost a year, passing away this past December. I think that if you talk with your doctors, they can do treatments dependent upon the severity of both the cancer and the HD. Best to talk with them. Do not lose hope.

hugs,
Suzanne

My former husband Joe was discovered to have breast cancer. He was/is late stage, this was about 2 years ago now. He never could have handled radiation or chemo, so they only removed the tumor. So far so good. Pat

I know nothing about chemo and HD, but I do know about chemo.

Patients undergoing chemo will often experience changes in energy level, weakness, endurance and cognitive or memory changes as well. While these are seen as temporary with chemo, in your husband's case, they may intensify some HD symptoms which are only subtle now. The set of symptoms is actually referred to as "chemo brain." Chemo is designed to kill tumor cells, but unfortunately, some healthy cells are affected as well.

If he undergoes radiation treatment of the esophagus, keep a close eye on his swallowing, as the muscles associated in swallowing are often weakened with that treatment. This is also affected in HD, but the sudden onset of weakness after radiation should resolve.

So in short, he could possibly express symptoms which at first glance may look like progression...but only time will tell if it is true progression, or if it will resolve.

My best to you and your husband during this time.
Patty

I have HD and I noticed that some years ago when I had to have a knee replacement, which was extremely painful, and then went to the rehab hosp to learn to walk again, my mental health symptoms got much worse. I was full of panic, depression, and pain in the worst way. I was crying about everything and couldn't do the exercises without breaking down. Finally they gave me some very strong pain med, methadone, I think, and I was able to get through it. Now I am glad to have this knee, but fear the future if my other knee or hips get worse. So I would think chemo might strain his mental health, if not his movements.