Tom thanks for your reply. My husband goes through the vomiting sessions when he has his chemo treatments. It is very painful for him. I currently give him between 64 oz and 70 oz of water daily and I give him 2 tsp. Guaifenesin via his tube every four hours. He also gargles with the Guainfenesin. Did you use anything else to ease the secretions? My husband would be better able to handle the chemo side effects if he did not have to deal with the secretions. The oncologist is planning on two more chemo treatments and then after several weeks a PET scan. Any and all advice on what we can do to alleviate radiation recall side effects would be greatly appreciated. Eileen

Eileen,

Most likely, drinking fluids with all the vomitting is still not hydrating Don and the vomitting is probably dehydrating him more. The more dehydrated, the worse (thicker) the goo. During chemo I vomitted many times an hour and I don't remember ever going for very long without vomitting. I had 2-3 bags of IV fluid a day for many weeks. When my mouth, throat and everything from there to me rear end got raw, I used a lot of Miracle Mouthwash to swish and swallow. It is pretty popular with any type of mouth and throat sores. It has lidocaine and maybe benadryl and something else.

Guafenesin is useless without a lot of fluids. I also had the home health folks bring me a nebulizer and did some inhalation treatments to help the throat stay moist.

Best wishes,

Ed

Hi. i'm just starting this - first chemo and radiation this week and I didn't know what Guainefesin was. I thought the Doctors/Radition oncologists would see you every day and presribe what is necessary. Does all if this stuff happen after you are not going every day?

mp - Don't read too much into other people's experiences here. Your journey will be completely unique - unlike anyone else. Some of us really fought with the throat goo, but many didn't.

The amazing secretions of head, mouth and throat are all water based, all of them are defense mechanisms, and all of them dehydrate the body. The secretions will thin and then cease as the healing gets under way - but are really needed until then. All those tissues are really damaged from tx. The secretions protect them, and would, ordinarily by fairly thin and non-problematic (think - runny nose). But the tx steals fluids everywhere in the body - leaving little to help thin the goop.

You MUST get the fluid loss stopped. Don't let the docs put you off about it - get the right drug to stop the vomiting. Keep asking until you get it. Then, pour in the fluids - many say 2 liters per day.

mp, keep us in touch with how you are doing. Keep reading here, but remember, your treatment experience will be unique. Be strong. Tom J

Ray - Radiation tx turns 'rubber-band'-like jaw muscles into shoe leather. But, its never too late to start regaining some of that lost jaw motion. I too was ignorant about losing jaw function until will after tx. I could barely stick a finger into my mouth. Some of the lost motion is recovered with healing, but more can be regained with exercises. Find out about "Therabite" and small device used to exercise the jaw. I have not recovered all the lost motion, but I got back a lot - more than enough for speech, smiling and laughing. No more hot-dog eating contests for me, but .... Life is good. Be strong. Tom J

Ask about renting a suction machine (from a medical supply house) -- if it is prescribed insurance will probably cover it, and others have posted that (even so) it was not that expensive considering the benefit in controlling excess secretions.

Inability to swallow also inhibits your ability to get rid of mouth secretions in the normal fashion (swallowing them, unconsiously) and the excessive, thick stcky ones accompanying radiation are even more intolerable. The guafenesin helps because it thins secretaions. So does gargling (or swishing) with a salt/soda mixture -- some have used soda water to good effect.

I think it is inexcusible for doctors treating HNC patients not to caution them about the possibility of trismus (restricted jaw opening) and to have them start appropriate exercises (or using a TheraBite device) from the get-go. Ditto continuing to swallow something, anything, to keep the muscles at least somewhat functional. My husband's ENT had herself had radiation (the old-fashioned kind) 15 years or so ago for a head cancer and knows only too well these side-effects. She warned him about continuing to swallow -- she had to gargle with lidocaine to be able to swallow, but managed it. So did my husband, but it was hard...

Gail

I would like to thank everyone for their support and help over the last several months. My husband, Don, lost his battle to cancer. It spread to his brain and there was not much we could do at this point. I think this is a very good site and when the time allows I would like to help out somehow. I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season. Eileen

Eileen,

I am so sorry that Don lost his battle with this hideous disease. Remember, this site is here for you always.

Eileen,

I'm very sorry to hear that your husband has passed. My prayers are for you and your family tonight.

Eileen, I hope the strength and courage you showed while caring for Don will stay with you now so that you can start to heal yourself. I know it was a long, hard road. Amy