Callygirl - The Magic Mouthwash is a prescription and the ingredients may vary but it is very effective in numbing the sores inside the mouth long enough to be able to drink or swallow. Ask the doctor about this. My son used it and it was very effective. . . altho' after a while when it quit working, there was an over-the-counter type that the pharmacist recommended that also worked and later he went back to the Magic Mouthwash prescription. Always make sure the doctors know everything that goes in your brother's body (and comes out, too). I might be helpful to make up a spreadsheet with all his meds, how often and how much so that he knows when they are due. Having the doctors' names and numbers on the sheet makes it more convenient to call when needed. Whoever goes to the appointments with your brother can take along the spreadsheet to make it easier to answer the doctor's questions. My son lost a lot of weight too, about 20 lbs but it could be more because towards the end of Tx he was very secretive about how much weight he was losing. You have gotten such good suggestions above. . . maybe you could print these out and leave them with your parents and your brother to look at when you are not able to be there. It's so great that your brother has you and your parents to help him through this tough time. You are a great caregiver and I'm sure your parents appreciate all that you do!

Hi, CallyGirl!

You are a good sister. Your brother is a fortunate man to have you advocating for him. The best thing you could have done to help him was to come to theses forums. So many of us have "been there, done that".

I was hospitalized 5 times throughout my treatment. A few of them were actually after my treatment ended! Not all of them were for dehydration/malnutrition, but one of them was and they took care of those things all the other times I was in there. I just turned 39 years old a week ago. I was 37 and pregnant the first time I had cancer, but I didn't need the dreaded rads/chemo. I wasn't so lucky the second time. I knew what I was in for and I don't know if that helped or not.

You've got a lot of great advice here. I just want to add one more thing. When I was in the hospital, I was given a palliative care consult. Now, I know that sounds scary...like end of life care, but that's not all they do. They specialize in pain management. It was the best thing that they could have done for me. I tried all of the fentanyl patches and oxycodone and I was still not getting my pain managed properly. It was at that point that I felt so badly, I asked to be admitted to the hospital. Now, they put me on a medication plan that I never thought I would be on. I thought the drugs they gave me were only for heroine addicts in recovery, but in fact, these drugs are widely used in pain management for cancer patients. I am now in the tapering phase and I am doing fine.

It sounds like your bro needs to be hospitalized for many reasons to get him through. If he is admitted, ask if they have a palliative care team (or pain management team) that can consult with him and put him on a treatment plan that works for him. It may take a little tweaking, but I'm confident that with the nutrition, hydration, and proper pain management, he will tolerate the treatment much better.

Best of luck. He will make it through with good care.

xoxo,
Kerri

Hi CallyGirl,
When Mike was finishing treatment I was home full time with him. Your brother may benefit from being admitted to hospital in order to be able to focus on resting and fighting his cancer Pain control is of the utmost importance. We had homecare nurses coming in almost every day for hydration. (thank you canadian healthcare :)) Even as an outpatient, your brother should be able to consult with the pain management team and they will work with him to get it under control. Constant pain is very draining and this is no time to "tough it out". Good luck with everything
Take care
Josee