Treament #16 finished. 17 to go.

You all are so concerned about a total stranger. That's just amazing to me.

I have lots of experience with Thrush, I'm pretty confident I don't have it right now. The Magic Mouth Wash, or swish and swallow, or GI cocktail, whatever you want to call it, has Nystatin as one of its ingredients. Some of you are talking about Diflucan, which I've taken in the past, as a maintenance dose. Do I need to ask for that prescription now, before I get thrush, or do I have to wait to get the Diflucan until I come down with the Thrush? And is that in addition to the Nystatin that's in the swish and swallow?

The burning pain I have is inside the left side of my tongue (the side being radiated). It's also in my cheeks and lips. My cheeks are so swollen I look like a chipmunk. And heat just emanates from them. Sometimes I put a cold cloth on my left cheek just to remove some of the heat and try to reduce the swelling. Is there a better way to remove the heat, swelling, and burning pain?

I don't have a PEG. Got very close to getting one last week, but once the new pain meds started working, I was able to get in 4 ensure pluses a day. That is maintaining my weight for now--I'm only 108 pounds. Now that I've returned to treatments, my lower throat (base of neck area) is very sore inside. I drink cool water, but nothing but the swish and swallow soothes it, and that doesn't last long. I'm up every hour or so during the night rinsing the mucous and slime out of my mouth and then drinking the swish and swallow for relief. It's a tough way to get a night's sleep, but the Lyrica helps me get back to sleep now, whereas I used to just stay awake. I do use the viscous lidocaine lots too--I put it all over the sores on my tongue and inside of my cheeks and lips before I drink so that I can get it down. It doesn't last long either. I guess this is all normal for this awful treatment. Luckily, the pain management specialist agreed to see me each week throughout my treatments, so I can ask for stronger meds each week as I need them. It hurts more every day. I just hope I can make it!

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