Hydration was titanically important in my treatment. I cannot express how important full hydration really is. My worst moments, a few of them very dangerous, were because I was not properly hydrating. It's so easy to just go to bed and sleep the day away since you are feeling crappy anyway. I ended up in the ER three times that way. And for the patient, it's very easy to lose track of how much you are hydrating with everything going on, not to mention all the drugs make forgetting things quite common. The water also helps you to keep swallowing, which exercises the muscles and keeps them in shape. So water water water. Water is life. Have some and then have some more!

Also, please do not be so hard on yourself as a caregiver. This is in many ways even more emotionally taxing for them. The patient often becomes very focused in their attention and are concentrating on just putting one foot in front of the other. The magnitude of everything is often lost to them between dealing with pain and sickness and of course... the drugs. But the caregiver is often assaulted with the full totality of the struggle and it can be entirely overwhelming. My hubby shut down a few times from it when he refused to take a breather. You are no good to your husband if you aren't also treating your OWN struggle. Take a break. Ask for help. Talk to people you trust about your experiences and frustrations. Whatever you need to do in order to maintain a level of commitment that gets him through this.

And remember to always keep love at the front of all you do. The love is the light that cannot be extinguished. It burns as long as we breathe life into it. So remember to breathe. Remember to breathe. You can get through this. You can.