Thanks Anita, Dann & Gary...
The encouragement is much appreciated...it seems like what may be happening with Jim is that his throat is almost closed...he can't swallow anything, and the mucous is so abundant and thick that he needs to clear his throat constantly. He will usually only sleep in 30 minute increments, then wakes and starts clearing his throat and that leads to the gagging and then...well, I thnk you get the picture. We started taking salagen by tube on Friday, which I thought might help thin the mucous, so far it doesn't seem to be helping and Jim wants to stop taking it because he wonders if that is making his gagging worse. ??? Gary, yes, we too have had a hospitalization due to the constipation and inability to feed with the tube...we thought we had the constipation under control, things are moving, albeit slowly...he has lactulose at 30cc 3times daily, and senokot liquid a couple times a day, then about every three days if things aren't moving he has a dulcolax suppository...I never thought I'd be so well versed in laxatives and bowel stimulants ! He also takes Reglan which is supposed to help move things through his stomach or something. Well, today he was sick to his stomach 3 times, I'm hoping for an improvement tomorrow. Thanks for listening to me...all of you are a great support.