What a difference a couple of days, a good doctor, and the right meds make! I can tell just by your writing that you've got your footing again. So glad you are doing better!

Yes maam Ms Sandy it does! Had a great visit with my MO today as well. Apparently I missed an appointment and subsequently all the follow up appts. for when I was going through the chemo. I was very addle brained at the time and don't recall having that appt. But oh well, that's the past. He totally listened to me on the decadron though, I even told him I needed the scrip adjusted, what to adjust it too and he agreed and wrote the scrip right there. WOW! so I now have enough, on the proper schedule, to make it through the peak weeks. The rest of this week and most of next, which should do the job.

Happy boy today... oh and he also told me my tumor shrunk 70% already and I still have two months of Tx in my system left to work on the rest. =)

hank, my dads gagging is now pretty extreme too and because of reading this i was able to offer some reasoning to him. today was bad, so i asked his pain rn to get him hydrated and add soemthing to dry up the mucus, and man did that make a difference!

he starting to become afraid to swallow and we pulled out the zofran again, he had shelved it after his last chemo but its obvious it will be needed.

chris i hear you about where to go post tx. we are a few days from that and i made sure to get that plan set because this last week is so rough. they have a great dedicated post tx clinic plan which we used for the first time today.

Great News! You sound like a completely different...and happy...boy!

Caco, try and identify where the gagging is coming from. Some of mine was from the mucous draining but mostly it was from swelling from the radiation damage. If there is swelling he is going to need and ant-inflammatory like Decadron to get that under control. It has done wonders for me as I come through the peak damage psot rads. I can swallow pretty good and the gagging has become minimal. I still have mucous, but that's easing off as well. Make sure you ask if he feels tight in the throat and watch his breathing.

Decadron must work really well if someone can eat a pulled pork sammich a week or so after the end of rads. I still gotta get one. yummmmmmmm :9

Hank - just read this whole post and wondered how you're doing now ?
I'm 4 weeks into 6 weeks of radio and the flem situation is really beginning to kick-in.I do have a mouthful of secretion/spittle forming every 4/5 minutes in addition to deep seated flem which I'm constantly coughing up and which often contains blood spots.
At night, I can only manage about 1 1/2 to 2 hours sleep at a time before my ultra dry mouth makes me wake up and then the secretions/coughing start again etc etc.
I've got a peg fitted and am able to swallow water but am wondering post radio (and I've still got 10 sessions left) how you coped as it's sounds like you've had a bad time.Hope things are on the up for you.

Hi, Brendan
My husband used a humidifier, and slept propped up for the worst of the dry mouth/phlegm duo. He kept a water bottle by the bed. Some of the Biotene products for dry mouth may help. If you have any nasal congestion, talk to your ENT about a nasal spray to help - if you are not breathing through your mouth, it is a little easier. Do not be hesitant to discuss all this with your ENT, RO or MO! The better (or less wretched) you feel, the better you will be able to get through the treatment tunnel.
The fact that you are fit is going to help you recover when the TX is done. Hang in there!