Hi everyone,
Questions:
1.When you are only eating liquid thru a PEG how often do you defecate?

2.How high do you let a temp get without treating it? (in other words how high over 98.6 but under 100.5 do you take a tylenol?)

3.Best remedies for Erbitux rash (like head and shoulders) and radiation burns.

4. Are these throat issues from radiation going to come and go, or is it a steady decline? (In other words, will he maybe eat again for a day or so..Heal worsen, heal worsen...Or is it just downhill for months?)

I changed the subject to "My Dad" from "Dad"..
It is week 3 for Dad and all of the problems/side effects are starting. He has thrush, sores and swelling on his lip, the Erbitux rash, hasn't swallowed food in three days,experiences nausea in the morning,complains about a pain in his side/back, and is constipated from morphine.
He still has more discharge around his PEG than I thought he would. (It isn't infected though because he has had it looked at often.)
What we are doing:
Nutrition:
PEG feeding 2 cans 3 to 4 times a day
Water each time (which is not enough)

Pain:
Morphine 15mg if he wants it
laxative because of the morphine
Nausea med as needed

THroat/Rad:
Oral wound rinse 2 times a day
Thrush medicine 4 times a day (you swish it around and then swallow it)
Baking soda/salt mix for mucous ropes
Irrigate pocket in his mouth 3 times a day (when he was eating, not so much now)

Chemo:
Dabber for Erbitux rash (alsohol based)
head and shoulders for Erbitux rash - works!
Aquaphor for radiation burns.

PT:
Swallowing exersizes (we are bad about doing these -He's just had enough, usually..but I'm not so worried because he is still swallowing pills..is that enough?)

Mom deals with most of this but I relieve her 2 1/2 days a week. I have taken over one of my Dad's duties as well, taking his brother out of a veterans home 3 hrs away every 2 weeks for food, shopping.
Mom and I had a big fight the other day, so I am stressed about this as well.

Pretty much how I feel is that I am fine when I'm with the patient but can't stand the rest of humanity and their daily "problems". I just have little to no tolerance.
When I am with Dad there is so much to do as he is getting increasingly high maintainence. And I like it in a way, because I lknow what to do every sec. He is still the most pleasant man on earth-by the way!!
I am grateful for this site because I have had few surprises.
By the way: At the middle of week 2 he was in pain, his tumor was swollen and he had to press on it to swallow. Then, on that Sunday the tumor went way down and he was psyched about it! The docs said it is normal for the cells to get aggravated when you first start to combat them.