Hi Walt,

Glad to read your post on Pat's progress. You are right about the extra hydration, we also did that with Jack and it made a big difference. What kind of anti nausea meds have they given her? If she's not on the heavy duty ones like Zofran that might help. If she is on that ask them if the dose could be increased. Jack used Zofran 8mg twice a day in the form that melted under his tongue since swallowing pills was too difficult at that time. He also had compazine, a milder one, for breakthrough nausea.

We also found that sitting/walking outside helped. One of the nurses told us to try it so when we got home from the treatments we would sit on the stoop or in the back yard. Sometimes he would walk up and down the driveway just to be outside. Not sure why it worked but it seemed to.

Other than that, I think he used to smell pieces of fresh ginger - okay that one was weird but we figured it couldn't hurt.

The radiation symptoms do continue after treatment ends and some people feel worse just so you're prepared. Then one day all of these side effects stop and they start to recover. It takes a while but Pat will get there.

Continued good wishes to you both. Keep posting.
Regards JoAnne


JoAnne - Caregiver to husband, cancer rt. tonsil, mets to soft palate, BOT, 7 lymph nodes - T3N2BM0, stage 4. Robotic assisted surgery, radical neck dissection 2/06; 30 IMTX treatments and 4 cycles of cisplatin completed June 06.