Oscar,

If you are still in pain you might need stronger/better pain meds. My husband went through a few options before he found what worked for him. He used a combination of breakthrough pain relief and long lasting pain relief meds.

For the mucous, he used robitussen (there's lots of variations out there, he used the kind that had no alcohol and the key ingredient was guaffisan (sp?)). That thinned out the mucous immensely making it more tolerable. And, at his worst, he used a portable suction machine. Both of these were recommendations from kind folks on this site. And, once I knew what to ask my doc about, our doc was in support of these solutions as well.

Hurray for being 1/2 way done!! It might get worse, but then it will get better!!! Keep advocating for better pain meds if you are in pain.

Your docs don't want you in pain either. It's hard for them because everyone reacts differently so there isn't a one size fits all pain solution.

My husband wanted to get in and out of the hospital as quickly as possible each day, so even though he was in pain, he'd tell everyone he was "fine".

I had to advocate for his pain medication while he was having his RT treatments. Docs, NPs, Nurses...they were all very receptive to helping him. And, what worked one week wasn't always enough the next so I worked with them on daily dosage modifications too.

With any type of narcotic pain medication, be sure to talk to your docs about constipation...an almost guaranteed side effect. If you can manage that at the beginning, life is that much more tolerable.

I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays and your 4 day break!