The Swallows Australian Edition Magazine

chemotherapy well, but the 35 days of radiation
were difficult. The radiation kills the salivary glands,
so a dry mouth is a legacy of the treatment. The
radiation also causes burning and swelling in the
throat, so eating is increasingly difficult. This caused
rapid weight loss and while Ken had excess weight
to lose, the dieticians became increasingly frantic.
They suggested he should be having at least 12
tablespoons of Sustagen a day mixed into his food.
Can you imagine how difficult it is to disguise four
tablespoons of Sustagen in one tablespoon of
scrambled egg which was all he could manage at a
sitting. That old favourite, junket, became a staple
food, but it doesn’t take kindly to having Sustagen
mixed in it either.
A Carers Story
- Rhona and Ken
Collinson
Have you ever been asked to do something you
didn’t want to do and you thought of the best
excuse ever to get yourself out of that job? Or you
couldn’t think of an excuse quickly enough, then
ended up doing the job anyway? A cancer
diagnosis for one person immediately creates an
opening for another person – the carer. You didn’t
ask for the job, but you got it anyway. The patient
didn’t ask for the diagnosis, but they got it anyway.
So, you just get on with it.
We were directed to the Princess Alexandra
Hospital Brisbane for Ken’s treatment. Most Head
and Neck cancers these days are dealt with by a
multi-disciplinary team, which includes doctors,
oncologists, radiation therapists, dentists,
dieticians, speech therapists, physiotherapists,
social workers, researchers, care nurses and even
Uni students who are learning the ropes. For about
three hours at our initial interview, Ken and I and our
daughter tried to absorb all that we were being told.
The thing that amazed us most was that not one of
those people used the word “cancer”. They all
talked about treating Ken, not the disease, and this
gave us great confidence.
The chemotherapy and radiation regime is common
to most cancer treatments. Ken handled the
With 10 radiation treatments to go, Ken could
swallow neither food nor water and was admitted to
PA where he had a tube through his nose for liquid
food to be administered. One of my tasks was to
learn how to manage the tube and administer the
six daily poppers of Hospital strength Sustagen that
became Ken’s food for the next six weeks. I have
never considered nursing skills as one of my
strengths but again, as a carer, you can adapt to
many things.
Throughout this time, I kept a daily journal which I
used to write while Ken was having his daily dose of
radiation. It helped me focus on what was
happening, to record the difficulties and focus on
the blessings we received. We learnt that some of
the best most caring people in the world work in
Queensland’s public hospitals. We learnt that there
is such a thing as thickened water. We learnt that
yoghurt and avocado are life-saving foods. We
learnt that the support we received from friends and
family is priceless. And we learnt that time takes on
a new meaning.
Four years down the track, Ken deals with the “new
normal”. That includes no longer being able to eat
things like steak or rice or cake, losing the taste for
chocolate and wine, and having to have a rest most
afternoons. It means having a high maintenance
dental routine because of the damage done to the
teeth and the jawbones by radiation. It also means
being 60 kilograms lighter, no longer being a Type 2
Diabetic and no longer having high blood pressure.
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