Hi All,

It has been a while since I last posted.... When I did hubby was in CCU and I was ready to be commited!

Since then quite alot has happened.
Hubby was hooked up to life support for 6 days in total, after giving him steriods for 48 hours they removed his breathing tube without incident.
After being on a regular ward for another 4 days hubby was able to come home.
I sat down with one of his doctors and reviewing every scrap of paper in his records we found the following details which they think caused the problems that put him there.
When he was admitted to the ER with 103,3 temp he had his newly upped dose of Fentynal patch on him, it was not removed even though it should have been as it states you should not wear it if u have a high temp / overheating. ER Doc sent up orders for meds including more patches. I removed his patch while he was on the ward (next day I believe) and told "a" nurse I had done so, it was noted in the record - new shift of nurses patch replaced on his shoulder (no one knew about that!) Dr makes rounds notes no strong meds etc etc, another doc makes rounds (not any of his cancer center docs)prescribes morphine........the rest is history. When he was in CCU he had no patch on, no-one knows who removed it but a residue was left so u could see where it was.
The company that make the patches has written to us to ask if we would release his records to them. At the end of the day it was no fault of the patch just the way it was given.
Moral of the story.... if you have a high temp... TAKE OF THE PATCH!!!!

DH has just had his 6 week PET scan, results show the tumor has shrunk and that there was a tiny bit of uptake on the edge of it but could be residual from treatment. Either way his op to remove it is going ahead and we are waiting to see when the date will be.
As for pain meds.......... He has TY during the day and TY PM at night, he refuses point blank anything stronger....... somehow I can't blame him! Magic mouthwash we have but he has not used since before his hospital stay.

Now for the questions!
Hubby wants to know (he asked me to ask!) at the moment he is swollowing approx 20 mouthfuls of water a day (rest via peg) he is scared to try anything else...... He would like to know what was the first item besides water you tried to drink / eat post radiation and how did u get on.
How long was it before you could finish a bowl of clear soup.

He would also like to know any tips or tricks you might have used!

Many Thanks

Sammie & Rich