Hello Lorie,

What a tough, slow healing process your husband has had.

My cancer was on my tongue - had 1/2 my tongue removed in September and finished radiation about 5 weeks ago. I definitely had an easiler recovery, but I did have trouble with that thick saliva gunk, making sleep very hard.

I had a prescription cough syrup - guafensin (robitussin) with codiene that helped. Also the hydrocone/lortab I had for pain enabled me to sleep more than 2 hours at a time. I had to sleep in an almost sitting position with 3-4 pillows propped under my head and shoulders. Also kept (still do) a very large glass of water or water bottle next to the bed. I used a humidifer for moist air.

During the day warm drinks help to thin the thick saliva. I quickly went back to coffee (compared to other food & drink), also herbal teas, thin soups or just warm water. I didn't like drinking Ensure because it would make the mucus thicker. I liked soymilk, it was thinner than regular milk or Ensure. Recently, I added Ensure (chocolate or butter pecan flavor) to my coffee which made a nice treat and thinned the Ensure making it easier to drink.

Yogurt, soy milk and ensure was about all I could handle at the end of radiation when my tongue and throat were burning. The yogurt may help with thrush because of the yogurt cultures. I had/have to avoid most acidic/citrus/tomato. Also spice and pepper are hard. I have to drink at least 4 large cups of water per meal to swallow food, I also have physical troubles swallowing due to losing have my tongue. I kept an open can of chicken or beef broth around to add to foods - like meat or vegetables, potatoes, etc to help make it easier to swallow.

I hope some of this helps, i'm getting a little sleepy and not sure if I'm making any sense. I'll try to add more tips if I think of them.
Hang in there,
michelle

ps
Another vote in support of anti-depressants (I take a selective seratonin reuptake inhibitor called celexa and have found that it keeps me upbeat, and I see a therapist)