Eric finished his third week of radiation today and this was his worst day yet. Up until today he hasn't needed any pain meds, but today the pain in his lower throat was intense so he drank some oxycontin at 9:00 a.m. before we went to the rad appt.

The drive to the appt is 90 miles, and he wasn't feeling well on the way down. At 11:00 a.m. he received his amifostine injections. 12:00 his rad appt. He took a Zofran at 8 am. By 12:30 when we went to the car he was throwing up before we had even left the hospital. I went back to the infusion dept (they are really great up there) to get a vomit bucket, paper towels and advice.

The only way Eric has found to avoid severe nausea from the amifostine is to have a full stomach before and after the injection. Today that was impossible as the oxycontin preceding the amifostine made him too nauseous.

The nurses encouraged me to track down the doctor and get a narcotic patch prescription. I did that and the doctor also said to fill his compazine prescription and have him take that along with the Zofran.

His nausea and pain are really bad. In the car on the drive home he was retching, crying and hurting. It is now midnight and he hasn't been able to hold down any fluids since about noon today---almost twelve hours ago.

He should be better tomorrow as it is the weekend so there are no treatments. I think he has to get a handle on the nausea or he can't continue taking the amifostine, which we hope will help save his salivary glands. His problem is that all the opiate pain meds give him nausea. I am hoping that the patch/zofran/compazine combination will be sufficent to stop the nausea and manage his pain. On monday we see his oncologist. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what we should ask her? Is there an effective non-narcotic pain killer?

Finally, eating is getting really hard (today he couldn't eat because of BOTH nausea and pain and the nausea prevented using the "magic mouthwash" to numb his throat) Should we push for a PEG tube? It seems to me that if is going to get one that the sooner he has it the better.

For all of you that have been through this... my hat is off to you. This is a very traumatic, intense and life altering treatment. It was really hard to see him in so much pain today. On a bright note the rest of the week was really good, but today was a major wall.

Thanks all,

Jack