End of week 2

Finished my chemo and rads - 4/5 chemo and 23 rads to go.

Have had a few recent problems and thought I'd share and see what others had to say/offer.....

Have been taking Glutamine mixed with 6 oz. of water 3x daily and last at night before going to bed, letting it linger in my throat after swishing it around. On Thurs. night, woke up with the driest tongue - felt like it was in multiple pieces and very hard and crusty. Drank water and tried to sleep but kept walking up with the dry tongue. Sprayed some Stoppers and that helped a bit. Then next day my tongue was a little sore but otherwise ok. Same thing happened Friday night, but by Sat. am, my saliva was thick and my tongue was whitish and had soreness on various spots up top. Got a prescription for Clotrimizole tablets used for Thrush and they seem to help. Decided to lay off the glutamine as my last thing of the night on Saturday, and it was not as bad today.

In reading about Thrush, it seems that excessive mouth washing can cause the Candida fungus to go out of balance and explode. I am still brushing regularly, but rinsing less. Wonder what others have found!

Also, my peg tube hurt a bit last week and sure enough, a small infection was present and doc put me on Amoxy Clav for seven days. Pain is intermittent now and somewhat lessened. Does it always seem like someone is gently pulling you along by your peg tube when you're vertical? Annoying.....

Thanks for any insights!