ropey saliva following chemo and radiation

soccerfreaks said:

Drying times
Bonnie,

I congratulate your husband for surviving, and for doing so despite what are really great measures, without complaint, or with very little complaint. I salute you, as well, for being the caregiver that you are.

To answer your questions, or at least to try to, let's begin with the barium swallow test. You do not fail this test and thinking of it as pass/fail (as I once did) is likely to send you to a bad place, a place of frustration and even depression if you are of the sort who prefers strongly not to fail.

This exam is used to measure the ability to swallow at a given point in time. There is a long, long line of folks who discover that they cannot quite do the things they once did with their mouths and tongues and throats following surgery and other treatments. It is not failure. It is simply an inability at a given point in time to do things that one previously did without even thinking about it, an inability that may be corrected, usually is, via subsequent treatments, those provided by speech therapists, physical therapists, and the like. (Okay, it is failure and I should have been a politician, but you really cannot think of it like that: it is a measurement and a starting point, a mark on the wall to see where you are so that in the future you can know how much you have grown as well as a way for those who will provide therapy to know where the issues are so that they can better treat those issues.)

This will get better. It will. Even if other things get worse, and let us hope they do not, this will get better. At least to some degree.

With respect to the ropey saliva, this is the bane of all who go through the experience that your husband has endured. I am fairly certain that early on, after the surgery and during the following rads and chemo, the saliva thing woke me every two hours without fail.

I AM familiar with it, and I am not alone.

There are any number of posts over at least the last four or five years that speak to this issue, and you might find some enlightenment therein if you have time to peruse them.

In the meantime, my suggestion is that this is something he has to deal with, if only for a few months (it does get better). I used products specifically designed to reduce dry mouth and these seemed to help with the mucous over time. I am not an endorser of products, but one company was Oasis, and the other, the one I still use on occasion, is Biatene (sp?).

It is CRITICAL for hub to take care of his mouth, especially if, as you describe, I think, the salivary glands are not working yet. I urge you to advise him to do the mouthwash and to brush his teeth several times a day.

If there are magic cures for the mucous, I am not aware of them, Bonnie. I dealt with it, everyone seems to deal with it, but it does go away or at least abate over time. I advise that hub keep a water bottle near him at all times, as hydration is fundamental to getting over this particular issue, I think.

Incidentally, in that regard, I have been advised that sports drinks are not so good for you, as they leech important elements, while seltzer water, of all things, is apparently even better for you than regular water (this from my personal Onco Man).

Ultimately, I think hub may need to resign himself to waking every two hours or so for a month or two, Bonnie. In fact, I am not sure that 'getting dry' is the right strategy. It is a lack of moisture, in my recollection, that causes this onslaught of nastiness.

I wish your husband and all of those who love him the very best. Please be sure to consider this, Bonnie: to be a good caregiver, you must take good care of the giver. Do not forget yourself in these trying times.

Take care,

Joe