AK123 I can tell you a whole heap of people have read your post and winced. Its a difficult time, probably the worst time. As things get worse, it all looks too hard and the finish line seems a world away.

But as you see in the other posts we have solid group of experience here. Not just our own experiences, but what we've learned from others. I'm very proud of this group and always glad I found it. Tell your brother he has many friends here and we will help him through.

I won't repeat the good advice above, but as you can see it falls into three categories. What to eat, what to drink and what meds to take.

What to eat, you see Christine's easy to eat food list, full of great ideas. The fact is there was a point where I couldn't eat any of it at all, but you can and should revisit that list later. Its trial and error right now. There are strange cravings that come and go, so an experiment may not work for very long. My advice is to try simple things. My wife tried elaborate combinations that on paper fit the criteria, but one mouthful and I said no and wasted an hour's preparation. Boiled rice and milk worked as a staple for me for a while. Porridge too. Mainly because despite what my mouth was telling me, I had no doubt what they tasted like. We also discovered a strange concoction of peanut butter and cream, poured over a soft poached egg. Smell is important. KFC potato and gravy, it smelled right, so I was able to trick the brain into thinking that was ok so I had some of that. This is where the caregivers really are vital. Mainly because the patient will simply run out of ideas to experiment with. But intake is critically important. You'll hear that over and over because its true. No amount of lecturing from you, us or the doctors will get him through, he needs to understand he MUST find a way to eat. He has to look at one of those Ensure poppers and think "vanilla thickshake" often enough until it replaces the "stale phlegm" signal the mouth sends. Sipping coffee can help too. Sip of coffee, mouthful of disgusting food, wash it out with another sip of coffee. Rinse and repeat.

What to drink is simpler. I found a lightly sparkling mineral water that worked. Don't go to the store and buy a case of anything. We still have 30 bottles of the soda water I couldn't drink. To a normal person it tasted fine. It tasted fine one week, then tasted foul the next. Again, its trial and error, and fluid intake is vital too. Lots of small sips. Frequent mouthwashes too.

Meds. He should be all over the pain meds by now, and knows the consequences of not taking them on time. Watch for constipation, that can lead to a whole new adventure. The lidocaine didn't work for me, it tasted foul and made me gag. Pain, on paper, is the easiest thing to manage, but in reality its never that easy. The meds will be constantly reviewed by the doctors, and he needs to get all the pain relief he needs. No time to be a hero.

Also on meds, have a think about his mental state. Is he depressed, is he anxious? Is he having trouble getting to sleep, or trouble sleeping too long? At different points I was on antidepressants and anxiety meds, even saw a psychiatrist. Its not permanent, nothing to be feared or stigmatised. Its perfectly normal with everything going crazy for the mind to take a beating as well, regardless of how well supported he is.

I go back and look at the other responses now and realise I've repeated a couple of things. Well so be it. Its all true, and maybe the repetition will show him different ways to look at the same problems.

Aside from his caregivers, his greatest asset right now is that he sees the medics every day when he gets zapped. They've seen it all before and have a million ideas, secret recipes and tricks. Your brother will probably know all their names by now, I hope his team is as good as the one I had. He should report every change in symptoms, there is usually a trick to make it easier. But there's no magic bullet. This is a tough time, no mistake.

Its not a cliche to say your brother is doing well. I can tell by his words he is suffering, but he's fighting hard and looking for new ways to fight it. You keep coming back here and post as often as you need to. Someone somewhere in the world will probably be online to help you and we are with you all the way.