Hi-
My mom is nearing the end of her IMRT and in week 2 of 4 of her chemo. She is terribly nauseated and the meds do not help her. She feels it is more of a gag reflex on all of the thick stringy muscous that is getting stuck in her throat. She has been having terrible dry mouth (to be expected) and that seems to be exasperating the gagging on the mucous. I thought I read somewhere on this forum that someone had a device to actually suck the mucous out. Just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to combat this gagging/nausea from the gunk.
Thanks
Tami

Mom has stage 3 scc bot (IMRT 6 weeks of 40 & 4 weeks of chemo)

Get a suction machine from medical supply. You need a prescription from a MD if you plan to use insurance. If not, most medical supply companies will allow you to rent them. My dad has 11 more radiations and 1 chemo to go-that machine REALLY helped him when he has that.

THANK YOU so much Shawna, I was looking for that information. Much appreciated!
Dee

Shawna-
Thanks for the reply. My mom's dr's office said that she can't get a machine like that. They claim it is for hospital use only. Which obviously is not always the case. How invasive is the machine as far as using it? Does your Dad have a home health aide do it for him or does a family member use it? Any other suggestions on how to manage the mucuous that is choking her until we can resolve the issue with the machine? She is very nauseated and vomiting from this stuff. She can't even keep the $800 anti naseua meds down long enough for them to work. Any help is appreciated.
Tami

I would first call one of the hospital equipment rental companies in your area -- a lot of folks say they rent through one of these and it is not very expensive (since you will not have Dr's scrip).

Johns Hopkins gets these for folks that need them --currently only one of the HNC patients uses it but they will get us one if it's needed.

One thing that helps -- biut maybe not with the really awful mucous -- is guafusein (sp?) syrup which is available over-the-counter to thin and break up mucous-- my husband takes two tsp at night (he dilutes it in water, as otherwise it burns raw tissue) but he only has some excess mucous as yet and it's not that ropey kind. Still, I have used it for really awful disgusting chest mucous and phlegm when I've been recovering from bad cold and it works. Worth trying.

Other folks have found luck with putting gauze between cheeks and gums befor bed to absorb, also to sleep at an angle (like in a recliner) not flat on bed.

Gail

Thanks Gail-

My mom's husband is trying to get her admitted now (that is if the oncall dr's ever return their calls-they have called 3x so far today and no one has called her back).....she is having one of her worst times since she began the treatments. She is having uncontrolable vomiting. As soon as she attemmpts to put liquid in her peg it comes up her throat before she is even done with the feeding. She has only taken in 2 oz in the past 24 hours. Last nite at midnite they got her a prescrip for $800 anti nasuea tabs that melt in her mouth. They only help her for an hour and then she is sick again. The prescrip is 1x every 12 hours.

Her husband is afraid she is going to choke in her sleep from this muscous. Is that possible? This is really frustrating for me cuz she is in TX and I am in NY. I hope the doctors will admit her and get her some meds to help her get through this phase.

Tami

There may be more going on that just the mucous for such serious vomiting -- I hope and pray that they get her admitted and do something. No excuse they haven't called back ---

This is not a nice treatment at all and I frankly don't think that enough attention is paid to avoiding the side effects --

Good luck,
Gail

Tami, we live in a little "podunk" area in the Arkansas Ozarks. I rented a suction machine at the Medical Supply store in our area. It costs $40.00 a month withour insurance. It will help her. It sounds to me like her Doctors have dropped the ball and someone needs to be yelling big time. Amy

Tami, My doctor wrote a script for a suction machine. My insurance covered it. When I was done with it they came and picked it up.

Best of Luck, Danny Boy

Thanks everyone-
They did hospitalize my Mom last nite (not sure why they took so long!). She is using the suction machine in her hospital room and says it is working quite well. I am flying there to be with her this week and I am going to try to hook her up with her own machine for when she gets out of the hospital. She is still vomiting frequently. Not sure why none of the meds are working for her this time. The first chemo week she had the drugs helped-now they are not effective. They did a chest xray on her today. She is too out of it to know why. Anyone have any guesses on what they are looking for with a chest xray?
Tami
Mom has bot ssc stage 3 diagnosed 6/27/05 IMRT 7/18-8/31, currently completed 2nd week of chemo of 4 week regime (docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5fu 1 week on 2-3 weeks off)