Well said, Jenslp!

Ellen, let us know how it all goes.

I tried the honey treatment going into radiation, although I didn't have Manuka honey until very late. It may well have helped, but as I was warned, eventually it became quite horrid! Yech!!! So, please be understanding if/when your husband can't stand the stuff any longer. Makes my stomach turn just thinking of it, and it's been more than a year.

I do enjoy honey now, but on toast or something. Not straight off a spoon. Ugh.

Me too can't stand it but I'm only 7 weeks out so I still use it... Ack!

this is proly a dumb question, but what are you to do with the honey specifically, spread on sores?

Hey - actually you can use it topically - externally for sores, from radiation burn ( any kind actually) mouth sores ? Take a spoonful, put it in His mouth, let I melt - swish and swallow! If he already has mouth sores it'll burn! But I would suck it up and a few minutes later I actually felt better - then I began to heal. I still burned but not as badly! If full strength hurts too much, mix it with a little warm water and do the same - swish for about a minute - 3 depending on tolerance. It takes a few days to kick in, if there is already a problem with mouth, and sore throat! But for me it really worked. So I figure 3-4 minutes a day., was worth the pain! I used it 3-4 times daily. if there's a really bad sore - another poster on the forum would take tinfoil, place a drop on the foil and freeze, then he'd take the frozen drop and place it directly on the sore. That worked for him. Good luck! And re your previous post - your dad needs to take in his nutrition - liquid or solid it doesn't matter - you have to swallow both, as long as he is getting enough calories, protein, and fluids that's all the matters! take care

thanks cheryl! do you/anyone know if this stuff is pasteurized and where to get it? i would so not like to cause an infection as his mouth is already sore as hell. thanks so much!

Hi, I don't know this, but you should probably do some research before just sticking honey in there. When I was going through treatment in Canada there was a study on to see if the Manuka honey (the real stuff typically is coming from Australia and is quite expensive, and plain ol' honey might help, but isn't the same) actually helped, but they were very specifically applying it FROM THE VERY START OF TREATMENT, not after the fact. You might just make a sticky painful mess. Please get some knowledgeable advice (no, I'm not saying anything negative about anyone on here at all, just jumped on briefly and found this conversation).

cheers,

-Seth

stily good points. drs were quentionable on this as his sores are indeed raw, and i read the label, it is unpasteurized. also includes bee venom which he is allergic to, so not going to chance it.

Yikes! Yeah, I would avoid any possible allergic reaction! Wow, that would, um, bite?

Sorry, couldn't help it.

Have you been told about the salt water rinsing? I used a combination of salt and baking soda in warm water, and it really did help. I sure hope this is part of his routine? If not, again, don't just try it, but get the right advice.

yup, definitely using salt water (and unflavored meat tenderizer when i remind him) and that helps. his meds have definitely knocked out most of the pain. it takes a while to get the right balance of what to take/how often, but when you do, it's a great thing.

Meat tenderizer???? I have no idea what's in the stuff, but would NEVER have thought that would be a good thing. Interesting. And congratulations on finding that right balance of meds, which of course will probably keep changing over time.

I'll never know, but I may have ended up taking way more Fentanyl than I needed, and for me, coming down off the stuff was its whole own nasty experience. But I may be "sensitive" too. And now, ~18 months out, I'm doing very well, and in fact just had another consultation and nasal endoscopy (not as bad as it sounds) and they sent me home with a pat on the back "all's well in there". Yay.

-Seth