My Mom who is 80 has Squamous Cell Base of the Tongue Cancer. She has been through many chemo and 23 radiations. She had to stop radiation because she could not breathe. All of the docs said it was from swelling in the throat. They did lung and heart tests and found nothing wrong. It has been four weeks since all the treatments have been put on hold. She still goes to the cancer doc two times a week for bloodwork and hydration. But, she keeps getting sicker everyday. They say that hydrating her will perk her up, but I think this is hurting her. They are afraid she will go into renal failure if they do not hydrate her. Sometimes her potassium also goes up and they said they need to flush it out of her system. She has a PEG tube, thank God. Her voice came back and she is starting to eat soft foods. Why is she getting sicker?