update -
25 treatments down, 5 to go so tommorrow starts my last treatment week. this last week was the first tough week with the mouth sores really turning the pain corner early in the week. felt like someone was stabbing my tongue all over the place. oxycodone and lydocaine wash doing ecently and i plan to insisit on patch tommorrow. pain is only baqd whe trying to talk lot or when eating but i've got the meds times pretty well now and its manageable.

i accomplished 3 major goals last week which were 1) to continue working and i plan to work the last week as well (somewhat shortened days) 2) went to golf US Open for last sunday's final round and most importantly 3)had a great 1st birthday party yesterday for my younger daughter Devan - i was feeling really good. i have found that working throughout this process has really hlped me mentally eve though i'm clearly less productive than usual.

had a handful of severe nausea bouts which to me are the worst of the side effects and am on zofra to help with that. it was really only 2 incidents and when i was in a car for an extended period of time. my taste isneutral at worst so i am still able to eat soft foods and get shakes down no prob.

can't believe i only have 5 more treatments, wnt faster than i thought it would. my wife is holding up like a champ taking care of a 1 yold, a 2.5 yr old and me.

will post after last treatment.

Gary - sorry to hear about your swallowing issues. occasionally i am having issues where i want to swallow and it just doesn't want to work. can easily swallow liquids, its only when i have nothing in my mouth. taking your advice and tring to avoid a 100% liquid diet.