Gordon was "upped" to the 75 mcg. fentanyl patch yesterday and still taking 10 mg. of morphine every 3 hrs. now. He was just discharged this afternoon from his 3rd and last chemo. He's been so out of it, some hallucinations (but he knows that's what they are, so he's not psychotic). The worst thing was late this afternoon and evening: it took forever to get 2 glasses of water and 1/2 of his "shake" down, with a lot of coughing, choking, drifting off into La La land and almost ending up with the straw up his nose or ear, even with me watching. When things get worse, they seem to do so suddenly, with very little advance warning.
I ended up calling the clinic and spoke to the on-call oncologist who said her medical advice was to bring him in. So we had to go back up and have him readmitted at about 10:00 tonight. I feel like I've let him down and can't help but wonder if it's just me that can't cope. ChristineB, when I see what you've been through, I feel like a whiner. Thanks so much for your support.

Anne - CG to Gordon (59), non-smoker/non-drinker. SCC, BOT, HPV 16+, stage 3. Jan./10 - radical neck dissection to remove 48 lymph nodes, 1 node pos. Apr. 23/10 - finished 35 rad. and 3 cisplatin. Jul. 22/10 - PET scan clear.