From Sweet Dreams To Wet Dreams.....

sweetblood22
sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Get'yer mind outta the gutter.

From Sweet Dreams To Wet Dreams, One Woman's Struggle To Just Get Some D@mn Sleep.

Like, that? It may be the title of my memoir.

Gah! Just have to tell you what happened to me last night. I, of course, share this with, you, my friends, the only ones that will truly understand. So last night, I went about my nightly ritual. Last tooth brushing and rinse with Oasis, about 2 am. Crawled into bed, and put in the dry mouth glop that is perpetually located next to my bed, along with my little bottle of water. Got Nizzy settled under the covers in his "spot" on my right side, checked my Facebook for the last time, logged off, and turned off the electronic devices, kept my arms and legs in the bed at all times, and pulled out the station headed for dream land. I actually slept for about a three hour stretch, it was lovely, dreams and everything. (I usually wake up every hour.) Then I woke up, with the beef jerky tongue. :p Dry as dust. Not even enough moisture to have my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. Nope. We were way past that. We were almost to petrified wood stage. Owie. I reached for the tiny bottle of water, so I could rehydrate my poor tongue. I took a sip of water, which made me feel a tad better. I decided a second sip to hold in my mouth for a bit would hopefully rehydrate my dried tongue, so I took another sip, and held the water in my mouth a bit. My plan was to take one more sip after that, and reapply the mouth glop, and hopefully sack out again, for another trip to Slumbertown. So there I was, layin there, water in mouth, and tiny water bottle in hand, when my trip to Slumbertown, came sooner than I anticipated. I fell asleep, and proceeded to pour water all over me. It was cold! It was a shock, and it was all over me, my pillow, the sheets..... Yup. I was awake then, I'll tell you.
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Comments

  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #2
    Now that was funny.....
    I've knocked the glass off the bedside stand, but never dumped it on myself. I have twice had a dang fly or spider crawl into the glass. That will wake you up in a hurry.

    I've gotten pretty immune to the nighttime wake up thing. Not saying I dont wake up dry, but I tolerate the desert-mouth way better than I used to. I've heard other people say they notice this too as the years go by.

    Thanks for the humor.
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    Not a spider or fly but....
    One night, I had fallen asleep watching tv, lights were out, and I was watching a movie. At the time, the only thing my mouth would tolerate to drink, was Resource Boost Breeze drinks, they were in little juice box things with the little straws. So, I woke up and took a sip, and I felt something, kinda hard, go into my mouth. I was going to ignore it, but then I felt it wiggle. I quickly spit it out, turned on the light, and found that I was an earwig. I just about fainted. *gag*
  • fisrpotpe
    fisrpotpe Member Posts: 1,349 Member
    #4
    you do
    the things you will do and try just to maintain a high moisture content. I love the story, more important how easy you feel back a sleep.

    thanks for sharing a great word picture!

    maybe you should be in a wet tee shirt contest

    john
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    #5
    I laughed, I cried
    Hi Sweet, great story. I'm glad you weren't holding a lit candle . . . or a hand grenade. How about the Niz? She should have had your back.

    Hal
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #6
    Hal61 said:

    I laughed, I cried
    Hi Sweet, great story. I'm glad you weren't holding a lit candle . . . or a hand grenade. How about the Niz? She should have had your back.

    Hal

    Nizzy Noodle...
    Poor little guy probably thought momma peed on him...

    JG
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #7
    Skiffin16 said:

    Nizzy Noodle...
    Poor little guy probably thought momma peed on him...

    JG

    You should write a book. You
    You should write a book. You could have recipes, the super thread and. It would be your take on the whole trip and most certainly keep the title.
    Stacey
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #8
    staceya said:

    You should write a book. You
    You should write a book. You could have recipes, the super thread and. It would be your take on the whole trip and most certainly keep the title.
    Stacey

    Old Goat....
    On, I mean sheep, LOL.....
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #9
    LOL....
    I can relate to the jerky tongue..... I often compare it to a cats tongue actually, that feeling you get when one of those nasty little beasts lick you.

    OK, sorry, LOL... I'm not a cat hater, we use to have one for several years. TAZ, he was quite the character, and in no way just an ordinary cat, he fit right into tha family, LOL.

    Hint, his name TAZ was short for the little ornery critter...Tazmanian Devil.

    TAZ

    JP & TAZ

    JG
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #10
    Skiffin16 said:

    LOL....
    I can relate to the jerky tongue..... I often compare it to a cats tongue actually, that feeling you get when one of those nasty little beasts lick you.

    OK, sorry, LOL... I'm not a cat hater, we use to have one for several years. TAZ, he was quite the character, and in no way just an ordinary cat, he fit right into tha family, LOL.

    Hint, his name TAZ was short for the little ornery critter...Tazmanian Devil.

    TAZ

    JP & TAZ

    JG

    Oh my.
    I've seen that picture before, of course, but I never took a good look at the cat. LMAO. Man he does look like he is full of piss and vinegar! Taz is definitely an appropriate name.
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #11
    Hal61 said:

    I laughed, I cried
    Hi Sweet, great story. I'm glad you weren't holding a lit candle . . . or a hand grenade. How about the Niz? She should have had your back.

    Hal

    Nizzy?!
    I guarantee you, I bet John knows what Nizzy was doing. He was doing what Nizzy does best, sleeping! Lol. He was on my back, all curled up against it, though, I wouldn't say he has my back, so to speak.
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #12
    tonight
    You deserve a really good night sleep tonight.
    BTW...what is "the glop"? Andy has water and Stoppers 4 by his bedside for his hourly awakening with the bone dry mouth. Is there something else we need to know about?
    Seriously, I hope you have sweet dreams tonight...no wet ones!
    Robin
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #13
    Wonderful imagery
    I've tipped over the water glass... dropped the water glass... dumped the water down the front of my jammies... I figured I'd get smart, and add a straw to the water glass, to minimize the tipping - then I jammed the straw into my eye.

    The bedside table has water, eye drops, mouth spray, mouth gel, mouth rinse and chapstick. And one soggy box of kleenex.

    Love the beef jerky tongue. Been there, done that.

    Deb
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #14
    Emoticon
    :O
    We need an emoticon to represent our dry mouths. Any ideas?

    Deb
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #15
    D Lewis said:

    Wonderful imagery
    I've tipped over the water glass... dropped the water glass... dumped the water down the front of my jammies... I figured I'd get smart, and add a straw to the water glass, to minimize the tipping - then I jammed the straw into my eye.

    The bedside table has water, eye drops, mouth spray, mouth gel, mouth rinse and chapstick. And one soggy box of kleenex.

    Love the beef jerky tongue. Been there, done that.

    Deb

    Oh NO..Your poor eye!
    Stacey

    Oh NO..Your poor eye!

    Stacey
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #16
    Skiffin16 said:

    Old Goat....
    On, I mean sheep, LOL.....

    Thank you John..I am so
    Thank you John..I am so touched I am going to send you a replacement cat..
    PS..I really need some new glasses (or something..)when sweet commented on your cat picture, I didn't see the link and thought you were talking about your px and I was going to point out that you are holding a fish not a cat, but then I thought maybe you are holding some sort of oddly shaped oversized cat..
    Thanks guys for keeping me smiling..
    Stacey
  • shoemandan1
    shoemandan1 Member Posts: 19
    #17
    been there done
    been there done the water bath thing a couple of times. Hopefuly we will be moving and getting a biger bedroom where I can have a night stand on my side of the bed.For now I keep a bottle of water next to the bed.I have woken up with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth,taken the cap off and gotten a drink.than I fell back to sleep holding the bottle without the cap on.One heck of a way to wake up.
  • tommyodavey
    tommyodavey Member Posts: 728 Member
    #18
    shoemandan1 said:

    been there done
    been there done the water bath thing a couple of times. Hopefuly we will be moving and getting a biger bedroom where I can have a night stand on my side of the bed.For now I keep a bottle of water next to the bed.I have woken up with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth,taken the cap off and gotten a drink.than I fell back to sleep holding the bottle without the cap on.One heck of a way to wake up.

    Dry Mouth
    I haven't yet had RT so no complaints compared to what you all have to endure. But as I've gotten older and after several shoulder surgeries, I can only sleep on my back. For most of my life I slept with my mouth closed. Now I always end up with a dry mouth because of it being open for hours at night.

    What I did was order a head band that goes from the top of your head down to under the chin. It's elastic and forces the mouth closed. Found it from a C-PAP supply company and it worked fairly well but wore out in about 2 months. And it wasn't cheap either.

    Just a suggestion if sleeping with your mouth open is making it worse.

    My doctor moved my parotid so I would keep some saliva after RT. But I notice a reduction now after surgery and food gets stuck in my throat now. I sure hope it improves later. But once again I shouldn't complain.

    Sorry about your jerky tongue Sweetblood. You've been through so much already.

    Tommy
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #19
    tommyodavey said:

    Dry Mouth
    I haven't yet had RT so no complaints compared to what you all have to endure. But as I've gotten older and after several shoulder surgeries, I can only sleep on my back. For most of my life I slept with my mouth closed. Now I always end up with a dry mouth because of it being open for hours at night.

    What I did was order a head band that goes from the top of your head down to under the chin. It's elastic and forces the mouth closed. Found it from a C-PAP supply company and it worked fairly well but wore out in about 2 months. And it wasn't cheap either.

    Just a suggestion if sleeping with your mouth open is making it worse.

    My doctor moved my parotid so I would keep some saliva after RT. But I notice a reduction now after surgery and food gets stuck in my throat now. I sure hope it improves later. But once again I shouldn't complain.

    Sorry about your jerky tongue Sweetblood. You've been through so much already.

    Tommy

    Thanks Tommy
    I had no idea that they had a contraption to keep your mouth closed. Learn something new everyday. My mouth is closed, though. It's just the fact that not only did I have radiation, but they also took my left salivary gland, so I'm like Arid - Extra Dy. (do they even make that deodorant any more? I dunno. Lol

    I have the habit of also pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth now. It helps keep it from drying out for a bit longer.
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #20
    D Lewis said:

    Wonderful imagery
    I've tipped over the water glass... dropped the water glass... dumped the water down the front of my jammies... I figured I'd get smart, and add a straw to the water glass, to minimize the tipping - then I jammed the straw into my eye.

    The bedside table has water, eye drops, mouth spray, mouth gel, mouth rinse and chapstick. And one soggy box of kleenex.

    Love the beef jerky tongue. Been there, done that.

    Deb

    D Lewis
    The old straw in the eyeball, yep, I've done that one too, Along with the pick the phone up and punch yourself in the face trick. I'm so coordinated and graceful. Lol
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #21
    robinleigh said:

    tonight
    You deserve a really good night sleep tonight.
    BTW...what is "the glop"? Andy has water and Stoppers 4 by his bedside for his hourly awakening with the bone dry mouth. Is there something else we need to know about?
    Seriously, I hope you have sweet dreams tonight...no wet ones!
    Robin

    To:Robin Re: Glop
    There's all kinds of glop. I've got tons o'glop. The specific one I was referring to was GC Dry Mouth Gel. My dentists gave me a bunch a while back. I find it works best. I only have a tiny bit left, then I will go back to using the tons of tubes of Bioténe Oral Balance Gel. It's like a Vaseline but not quite as thick, and it coats your mouth, and kind of locks in moisture. I use it after I brush and floss, and then use the Oasis Dry Mouth Mouthwash. I was going to try and order the Stoppers, until someone here said that it tasted like wintergreen. *gag* Hate that flavor.

    This is the dry mouth section from the HNC Superthread if you are interested in additional dry mouth products.



    PRODUCTS TO HELP SOOTHE DRY MOUTH
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    BIOTÈNE PRODUCTS

    GC  DRY MOUTH GEL

    OASIS DRY MOUTH PRODUCTS

    STOPPERS 4

    CO BIGELOW LIP BALM moisturizes lips and keeps mouth moister

    TOOTHETTE ORAL MOUTH MOISTURIZER. Nurses in radiology oncology gave me packs with this in it.  Also contained a rinse and sponges on a stick to brush with when a toothbrush was too painful.

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