Paul,

Just stay strong, learn about all the various treamtents and stay on top of the entire thing,

Paul you seem like such a strong guy. My husband is almost 1/3 of the way through the same treatment you are ending. So we're buckling up for the ride.
Congrats on this coming Thursday and I'll pray you do as well as you can the next couple of weeks.

Today I completed my 28th treatments. Between yesterday and today things have seemed a little worse. Mouth is very dry, but still produce a lot of ropey saliva. Been spitting up a lot which hard to get out of my mouth as it is so ropey. Trying to keep my stomach settled despite all that's going on seems to be the tough part. Tomorrow, I have my follow up appointment with Dana Farber, and can honestly say I am not looking forward to it, as it is a 3 hour drive one way, and the appointment will probably last half an hour. The six hours of riding is going to be tough. Hopefully they will seem positive about my treatments, and will help assure my wife and I that it was worth the agony.

My hope once all this is done, besides not having it reoccur, is to be able to resume eating and drinking as I had pre-cancer. I guess time will determine that.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Have you tried rinsing your mouth with a salt/baking soda solution? That seemed to help me clean the mucous out of my mouth. The mixture is 1 tablespoon salt - 1 tablespoon baking soda - 1 quart water. For some reason this mixture did not burn my mouth, where straight water did.

Tom,

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try today. I had been given a prescription of Miracle Mouth Wash, and I did have some nystatin (which I found burns pretty bad just by itself.) The only type of food/drink I have been able to get down a little of is Breyer's All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream with a little bit of water. If I take small spoonfuls, it seems to help soothe my throat a little. The last few days my mouth has felt hot inside, so I have been concerned that I might be getting a little bacteria in my mouth. It is hard to clean my mouth, but each day I use a pic to clean in between my teeth, and brush without toothpaste, as I found that burns, and I use my flouride trays. Last night I started to mix a little of the nystatin in with the miracle mouth wash to see if I could help prevent any infection if possible.

Yesterday I wasn't able to make it to my appointment in Boston, as half an hour into the 3 hour drive I was already feeling very sick to my stomach, and dry heaving. They have rescheduled me for the middle of April. I did make my radiation appointment, and the Chemo center tested my blood and said my counts were good, so today is still my final treatment.

I am excited that after today I don't have to make anymore daily trips to get radiated, but I still feel like it is far from being over. Depressing as not being able to eat or drink is...it is worth it if the treatments will keep the cancer from coming back and give me a chance to spend a long life with my family.

Paul