Thank you all for the encouragement. Our main problem now is my husbands sleeping. He cant sleep because of his dry mouth. His tongue attaches to the side of his mouth, therefore he sets his alarm for every hour or so to wake up. Any suggestions...Thanks Carol Ann..ps I dont sleep well either. Ativan would put him to sleep but he is afraid that when he wakes up he wont be able to get his tongue off the side of his mouth....

Carol - When my son was at the "dry mouth" point, someone on this forum suggested getting a plant mister or a small spray bottle. My son liked the plant mister better because of the finer spray. He kept it by his bed so that when he woke up he could spray his mouth without too much effort and get back to sleep. My son spent quite a few nights on the couch propped up on several pillows. Later he used several large couch pillows at the head of his bed. "Stoppers 4 dry Mouth" helped a lot, too but the pharmacist told me a while back that that was being discontinued because of some similarities in their formula to the Biotene products. You can get Biotene products at Walgreen's.

Hi Carol, what great news that he's done with both the treatment and trach - awesome! When Jack had the tongue sticking thing he used Biotene dry mouth gel - it's thicker than the liquid products and worked fairly well. Jack put the gel on the nightstand. We also use a humidifier to keep the air moist. If he needs the Ativan he should use it to get some sleep. When he wakes up he can swish his mouth. Walt Mart and CVS also carry biotene products and you can order on line.
Regards JoAnne

Thanks Joanne, we have sitting in a basket, just about everything you can think of for dry mouth. Dry Mouth solution, Bioten, castor oil, spray bottle with water, spray bottle with sore throat solution, special paste for dry mouth, you name it he has it. His mouth is so dry. Also humidifier is in his room with a monitor. The mucous is getting less frequent so that is a blessing. He tried eating cereal today. Recliner comes tomorrow, he may get some sleep then. Thanks again. Carol..

Carol,

I remember that at about 2 weeks post the thick stuff resolved itself and I was left with "normal" dry mouth which last a long time. The thick stuff didn't last more than 3 to 4 weeks but it seemed a lot longer.

Wish you and he well.

That's wonderful news, Carol. My husband has 4 rads left and we are counting the days. His biggest problem was the thrush from the chemo which wouldn't have been a problem if the Dr. had just prescribed the fluconazole at the beginning but, he wouldn't. First the nystatin mouth wash and then the lozenges. Now that he is on the fluconazole, he is fine again.

He has never stopped eating real food, real meals which is great! He has not lost weight but, has actually gained.

One thing that he does everyday at least 4 times is gargle with Caphosol. I feel that this has contributed to his well being during his treatment.

I think it's remarkable that he has completed 33 IMRT's and 2 rounds of Cisplatin and 5FU and is still eating the same foods as before the cancer.
I thank God everyday for helping us through this.

Pam

Hi and congrats to you and your husband Carol. I am glad you all are finished with the treatments. Be mentally and emotionally prepared for a little bit of a roller coaster ride now though. For me I was glad to wake up, if I didn't I would nearly burst because of all the water I was taking in. I even wet the bed twice because I was sleeping well. Kind of embarrassing. :-) I have just learned to live with 1-2 hr stretches, get up, drink, use the restroom, roll around for awhile, fall asleep, and then do it all over again. I slept on the couch or recliner for a month because of this so I wouldn't bother my wife. I look at all of these things as temporary so persevering through these little annoyances aren't so overwhelming. What has been helpful is the steam humidifier I got at wal-mart or walgreens. Anyway it has a uv light to help remove the bacteria that everyone worries about with steam humidifiers. It helps more than the mister type humidifiers. Good luck.

Thank you all for your replies. As I watch my husband sleep in his new (nice) leather recliner I noticed he sleeps with his mouth OPEN. I pretty well have all of the above. It is his mouth and the dry mouth breathing that is causing him problems. (his tongue sticks to the side of his mouth) It hurst so he says. When can we expect to getting back to some normal breathing and sleeping here?? What week are we looking at? post treatment. Any thoughts.???

Hi Carol-
Been taking a break from all these realities lately...guess it is from burn out? I'm happy to hear your hubby is done! Yeah!! Mom starts hers 7/3. I'll email you soon.