Dear Christine,
Never thought about his taste buds being hyper-sensitive! That is a big possibility with him! Good thought. I did offer chocolate milk to him and he said it tasted sour. So there is that hyper sensitivity thought again. I know he is extremely sensitive to smells right now.

I have been trying to be hyper vigilant in regards to his swallowing and rinsing his mouth! But he fights me at every turn! I did make a rinse with 1qt water w/ 1/2t. baking soda and 1/2t. salt. (That was the solution the Dr. office came up with.) He tells me it gags him and makes the nausea worse and sometimes makes him vomit. This has been going on for the past week and a half. Actually, once the phlegm thing set in is when he got worse about rinsing...when he needs it the most. So I am getting a little worried about the swallowing. I encourage it at every feeding. He gets 3 Ensure and 3 Carnation VHC per day. When I do these I put 6-7 ounces of water in his PEG each time to make certain he is hydrated. Along with 2X per day of his medications in which I put another 5-6 ounces of water as well. The bad thing is when he brings it all back up and there goes all that nutrition and water. The poor guy. So I have been trying to space the rinsing out a little farther away from the feedings. But even then we have the gag reflex going.

We have 9 more radiation treatments and then, of course, the wait! I feel good about his recovery...it's now just getting him through these next few weeks! Trying to get him to do what needs to be done is such a damn battle! The feedings I can do. He has FINALLY realized that he is not going to win that battle! But getting him to drink and rinse is a whole different problem. The Dr.'s the nurses and I have all spoke to him about it. But it is like the one thing he can control at this point and he just digs his heels in and fights us on it! I tell him that I understand and can sympathize...but we are all truly trying to help him heal. The one thing I think might help was I put the rinse mixture in a bottle next to his chair and a basin there as well, and told him that when he feels like it to use the rinse when he can. I'm hoping by putting it in his control it might help. That was yesterday...we shall see what today brings.

As for the PEG...I'm so crazy! I thought you were talking about where you open the tube to put the food in! That's why I was wondering about it! Sorry about that! He is getting that granulation thing as well and I do the same as you. It does keep the pads from sticking to it.

Thanks for the info Christine. I'll try the Yahoo and see if that is any more palatable to him.

You amaze me that you get on here and help so many others when you have to be feeling so bad yourself! Have I told you that you AMAZE ME??? Thanks for all you are doing! Have a good day!

Gentle Hugs,
Susan