I am so sorry to hear that you have both been sick, but am glad that it sounds like you are both starting to feel better.

More on the constipation. The medicine tends to really suck any hydration out of you. So staying as hydrated as possible helps, but with the soreness of the tongue it begins to get tough. Right before my surgery I was in so much pain by the evenings I didn't want to talk, eat, or drink anymore. I found that a glass of prune juice with an ounce of aloe vera in it helped me. I also used enema's but by the end I needed more and looked for advice on this forum. Thankfully I got advice that worked best for me, but isn't as pleasant to have to do - buy him some plastic gloves (like used at doctor's office) and then he can manually help relieve himself. It wasn't fun to do, but by the end it was so relieving I didn't care anymore - and it meant I didn't have to take nasty medicine which didn't even work for me. Once in the hospital I had trouble again and wasn't able to go (even though they gave me tons of medicine for constipation) until I returned home and used this method again.

It is nice to hear that you are getting some relief from responsibilities with his mother being around. My husband's mother is an RN and was a caregiver to my husband's father when he had tongue cancer. She was able to come stay with him while I was in the hospital and help him prepare our house for my return (cleaning and buying a few new nice things) - it was a huge help and meant so much to both of us. Some tips that were very helpful for when I returned home was that she replaced our bathroom hand towel with paper towels to help keep germs down, bought us disposable Windex wipes so we could easily sanitize surfaces each day (counters, handles, light switches), and hand sanitizer to make sure I could easily keep my hands clean (especially since we have a cat so anytime I petted her I would use it) as I was home alone a lot. I was never one to use hand sanitizer, but with it being cold and flu season I now use it religiously especially when I have to go out in public.

Enjoy your weekend and hugs to you both.