Hi everyone...I am so pleased to have found this forum. My name is Deb and I am the wife/caregiver of my awesome hubby Ted, 63 who had surgery on May 5th,2015 for a stage IV tumor growing inside mouth and penetrating the jawbone.The surgery was successful, he recovered, and then started radiation, and finished a 6 week stint 2 weeks ago. The radiation, he says has been far worse that the actually surgery of 10 hours, and the bone and skin grafts from his leg. He is wanting to know if there is any trick to breaking the very thick mucus in his throat other than the salt/baking soda rinse and how to get grid of the the "taste of death" as he calls it, in his mouth. He is on a PEG and about the only thing he can tolerate in his mouth to swallow is water. The healing is very slow right now and he's feeling very discouraged. How long was it before any of you started to get your strength back and feeling the 'new normal'.
This has been a very lonely journey, not that we don't have great friends and family, but there is only so much of this journey that they can walk with you through. It's something that no one can explain to you in the beginning and you learn to adapt and overcome as you progress. Appreciate being here.