Bob & Laurie,

Mark is right. You will find many suggestions if you do a search of the forum. I think a lot of the best have already been posted here, but one excellent one I can recall is Joanna's suggestion of rolling up squares of gauze and placing them in the gutters of the mouth. This absorbs a lot of the mucous before it starts down the throat. This worked very well for Heather. It should allow Bob to get an extra hour or so of sleep at a time.

Also, if you don't already do so, use tissues to wipe out the goo. Extra Strength Puffs are especially good, as they are both soft and strong. They won't start to fall apart like some of the cheaper tissues, but they won't irritate your mouth as much, if at all.

As far as rinsing the mouth, some people used water, but some used something a little fizzy, like club soda. The carbonation helps cut the mucous better than water, as long as the fizz doesn't irritate an already sensitive mouth. Hang in there. It does get better.

Rainbows & hugs, wink
Rosie

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.