After surgery and sore mouth

maryaz · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:58 pm Post subject: After surgery and sore mouth

I think my last post was just after my husband came home from his surgery. Surgery removing right lower lobe and right middle lobe and some lymph nodes was on May 16th and he came home May 27th. He had an air pocket yet when leaving the hospital. That is no longer a problem.

He has since seen the Pulmonary Dr and Oncologist. Everything has been okay so far as far as surgery. However, my husband is having a very difficult time with the recovery. Not sure what the problem is. We are currently at the point of him seeing a Dentist Monday. His mouth is so sore that he cannot eat anything. He is a denture wearer. He is still taking pain medications as need.

We have come to the conclusion that since he cannot eat, he is lacking nutrition needed to recover properly and to help with taking the meds. He often feels nausea and/or light headed. He has been checked 3 times for thrush which they say it is not. He was told not to use any mouth wash with alcohol. He was prescribed a drug called 'Miracle Drug' that you swish and swallow. He is trying to drink ensure but we are struggling with him on that one.

Believe me, this is a person who really wants to and needs to get well.

Over Memorial Day weekend, before my husband was released, I started feeling bad. Without all the details, I ended up getting a root canal Wednesday, day after he got out of hospital. Thankfully our son was here from out of State to help because I became worthless. I had an infection and ended up on pain meds. My situation is what made me think he may need the nutrition because I too, could not eat, at all, and was taking pain meds for few days. Today is the first day that I have felt almost my normal. My being sick is why I have not been here.

I was not real sure what to expect but thought each day home would be a little better and that the walking would really help. With the problems my husband has had, he has not been able to work on the walking. He did not have to come home with oxygen. Breathing is okay. It is 3 weeks yesterday that he had surgery??

Anyone ever have anything like this. Nothing has helped his mouth yet. He cannot even eat soft foods as it is that sore. Appreciate any comments. Thanks,
_________________
Mary

Husband is 67 year old Male
NSCLC - Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Chemo and Radiation Treatments together
Allergic reactions to Taxol and Taxotere.
The Story: http://www.cancerforums.net/about9079.html

koikkeril · Super Moderator Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 334

Hi Maryaz
I am sorry to hear that your husband is having such a tough time with his recovery.
I naturally presume that though he is at home, he has glucose iv. I had to demand this when my husband had stopped eating/drinking, this gave us time to sort out the health issues regarding his problems, without risk of dehydrating...
My experience with my husband was that he had too much acid in his stomach. He was on anti sickness meds but they didn't work so well. When I knew my husband was going to be sick I would give him natural yogurt, this I found neutralized the acid within minutes. It stopped his sickness. With his mouth being so sore, perhaps the acid (reflux) could be doing this? Yogurt is so cheap, natural, I used to say to my husband just let it slide down, he had a problem to swallow even water, so this he could manage. I am really thinking about you, because I have been there and am still fighting on with him, be brave and positive. I have much faith in this yogurt pot now, as stupid as it seems it has built my husband up to tucking into a curry!!!! (now he has no acid reflux but he has had his fair share of yogurt pots) God Bless you, you are in my prayers, koik

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 1293

Hi Mary,

Try having him take B50 vitamins. They were suggested by our oncologist's staff for mouth sores and seemed to help. Any non-alcohol mouthwash should be used up to 4X a day. I know he's on the magic mouthwash, but I don't know how often he can do that. Make sure he's at the max number of times.

Good luck -- sores in the mouth are the pits.

PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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