Hi Michael --

Barry was having heartburn and sour stomach (lots of burping) after the PEG insert and this was exacerbated once he started to get the Ethyol (and probably not helped by the chemo either tho that's just once a week) -- we spoke to the RO and nurse yesterday and they prescribed Reglan (metoclopramide) which stopped it virtually cold. He had no bad stomach or heartburn today -- you take one 15-30 minutes before eating. Worked a lot better than Prevacid. The said they use it a lot in the practise. Ask your doc or nurse about it. Also, try not to let your stomach become empty even if you just nibble some dry saltines. And keep drinking!

So far Barry's taste is OK although he had a bit of a lingering metallic taste this afternoon but it went away after a salt/soda rinse and sucking a sugar-free candy. He thinks it's because he was negligent in drinking water (sipping, really) after getting back from Baltimore. Want to get that amiphostine out of the system so you have to keep drinking...but having swigged 24+ oz. in 90 minutes prior to the injections it is hard to get enthusiasm up for more H20.

He has also found Edy's 100% fruit ice bars to be great -- they come in nice flavours, raspberry, tangerine, lime, wild berry etc.

Do you get cisplatin every day?

Best,
Gail


CG to husband Barry, dx. 7/21/05, age 66, SCC rgt. tonsil, BOT, 2 nodes (stg. IV), HPV+, tonsillectomy, 7x carboplatin, 35x tomoTherapy IMRT w/ Ethyol @ Johns Hopkins, thru treatment 9/28/05, HPV vaccine trial 12/06-present. Looking good!