I was taught to check the color of the urine for dehydration the time when John became dizzy and passed out while he was having his weekly check-in session with his RO. It never even occurred to me that he could be dehydrated. Like Kristen mentioned above, the darker it is, the more dehydrated the person is. It will help your brother to get IV fluids at the hospital, before/after his treatment. He will find himself re-energized on the same day. I am a bit concerned about the temperature he’s running. The temperature can be an indication of an infection. I was told never to give John Tylenol as it will mask the infection by suppressing the temperature. I should think the doctors need to be informed and should have the temperature investigated.

At our hospital, there is a nurse on call on the phone after hours. Patients/caregivers can call at night or on the weekend about any problems. I did that a couple of times — especially the time when John developed deep-veined thrombosis. The nurse told me to take him to ermegency ASAP. I was really reassured by the service as I felt I wasn’t alone. If your brother lives so far away, maybe you can check if there’s a similar set-up at his hospital.

Does Tim have a feeding tube? If he does, he should be using it now. It is too hard to have to struggle to swallow on top of all the pain and mouth sores from radiation. He really needs to have adequate nutrition and hydration.