Hi everyone,

Well, it's been two weeks since Richard finished radiation treatments and his final Erbitux dose. The first week was pretty tough. Thank goodness that we were expecting the rough times to continue after the treatment ended and we were prepared mentally.

Now he is eating quite a bit and we are starting to wean off the Peg tube. He is still using it, but hopefully by next week he will get enough calories to maintain his weight. He's at the weight he was when he got the diagnosis. Adding the extra ten pounds paid off because that's exactly what he's lost.

I can't thank this forum enough for all the info we were able to use. Gaining weight before treatment was the best thing he did. Now, I would like your expertise on the easiest way to wean off the pain patch. Richard has been on the 50 mcg dose for 4 weeks and before that the 25mcg for about 2 weeks. So, about 6 weeks total and no break through meds. He tried the liquid morphine a couple of times and didn't like it. We will see the RO on Fri and she will talk to us about the pain meds. She suggested weaning down to 25 then to 12.5 doses. What about keeping them on an extra day, then changing? There's so much experience on this forum, that I know we'll get some good feedback.

Again, thanks so much for all your help. I recommend OCF everywhere I go. I come to the forum everyday even though I don't post often. I never learned how to type, so it takes me forever to write a post! Thanks, Geri