Hi Dizz_zey and OCF crew,

Thank you so, so much for reaching out again. It is definitely a comfort to hear from you all and know what is coming. I'm surprised to hear that you can have sores in your throat/mouth that you didn't even know about! Alarming, haha. I will definitely watch out for that. I just finished my fourth week of radiation - definitely at the tepid water only stage. I still keep trying to cheat and find other liquids to drink. I tried to drink room temperature coffee yesterday and promptly "sputtered coughed". (As Diss_zey says). I'm going to keep trying the coffee because I'm not really sleeping at night. (Unless black, lukewarm coffee can go through the PEG?) I'm also keeping my head slightly elevated by using two pillows in a 45 degree angle configuration - it didn't help with the coughing or mucus that keeps me up, but I'm told that it should. I am also avoiding people as much as possible - I can't speak well and I'm still cough vomiting mucus. And I'm massaging my face twice a day to reduce the swelling. And doing jaw/cheek/mouth/swallowing exercises three times a day. Definitely willing to do anything that will help my body heal fast. Although, I know I won't heal that fast...still got 11 more sessions of rad and then weeks of healing...

R0se

PS DEFINITELY taking your advice and keeping my mouth very, very clean.