My husband is on day 13 of radiotherapy and this is being given in conjunction with chemotherapy. He has been in a lot of pain with a sore mouth and today the doctor found a substantial amount of ulceration. The mouthwashes they have prescribed have sent him through the ceiling[ corsydol and difflam] and because of surgery to his upper lip he cannot hold the gel mouthwashes in his mouth. It is only when we got home that I realised that really we have only come away with pain medication and nothing for the ulcers. I would be grateful if anyone has experience of the chemo being suspended or any ideas for the treatment of the ulcers. Many thanks.
Kate

Hi Kate, we were advised to use Soda Bicarbonate mouthwash frequently:
1 teaspoon Soda Bicarb to 1 pint of water, made fresh daily.
This is very soothing & also cleaned the mouth.
Brian used a straw to suck it up when his lips were too ulcerated to take it from a cup.
All the best to you both. Fran.

gelclair is very good for mouth ulcers,it coats the mouth but does'nt sting.you can get it from your g.p.hope it clears up sooner rather than later.love shirl xxx

Hello Kate

You will these links to past posts helpful:

• Medicines (Mucositis)
• 'Mucositis' search

Many patients have found Gelclair helpful. More information also on the USA Gelclair site. You can get your doctor or oncologist to prescribe it.

The MASCC's Mucositis Study Group's report recommended patient-controlled analgesia with morphine as the treatment of choice for oral mucositis. It is often prescribed as a mouthrinse that is swallowed.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes
Vinod

thank you all for your ideas. We now have gel clair and this is proving to provide some relief. I am scared though about how bad it is going to get given he has only just had session 17 of 33 radiotherapy sessions.

Kate

Hi Kateman

I have not been on the site for some time, so it is possible (I hope) that your husbands mouth ulcers may have improved.

However if not perhaps you may want to look at ozone treatment supposedly it help to treat both tramatic and aphthous ulcers.
The treatment is called Healozone and is avaialble in the UK.

I am going to post Dr Joshi and ask him about the procedure, it is available from certain dental surgeries.

I hope the above info is of help.

regards


Tony

Thanks Tony

at the moment though things are worse and now he has some other infections in his mouth and nose which have caused his face to swell. he has been in hospital now for a week and seem really bad, I am very worried.

Kate

Hello Kate,
I had my treatment at the LRI. I also had some difficulties midway thro my RT and had to stay in for a week. They fitted a a feeding tube (PEG) into my tummy and put me on antibiotics which helped to improve the ulceration in my mouth. My pain meds were altered too. Dr. Vas was very good. I didn't have chemo so things may well be a bit tougher for your husband. What can I say - things will improve after the RT and chemo have finished.
If I can be of any help at all- please feel free to ask. My RT finished Dec 22 2004. Not my best Christmas!!
I see Mr. Moir for a 6 month follow up on thursday. Things are going well for me. Your husband has all this to look forward to.
Things will improve - it just takes time.

If I can be of any help at all - don't hesitate to ask.
Tony K

Hi Kate

Really sorry to hear that your husband is in hospital, perhaps I can offer a little comfort by saying that like TonyK, I also ended up in hospital during RT/Chemo, it seems most of us do during the dreaded head/neck treatment.

I was diagnosed on 21 December last year and finished treatment in March this year.

I am now back to my old self (a miserable old git), will keep my fingers and toes crossed for you, it is not nice seeing a loved one going thru the treatment but in a year's time you'll be posting how well he doing.

Hi, TonyK congrats to your third anniversary.

Tony

My mum had to be admitted to hospital through her RT too - dehydrated and stomach pains.


I hope he is feeling better soon - isn't it just a dreadful thing to have to watch ?

Hi kate ,have been reading your posts .My husband reacted very badly to RT and combined chemo in week 2 .He was admitted for 3 weeks in week 3 due to Nutrapoenia sepsis .His mouth was in an awful mess with ulcers as was his face and neck .His mouth became unbearable and also prone to terrible thrush .We tried all sorts of lotions and potions through hospital and found the best was the 1 pint of Bicarbonate of Soda mixed and used luke warm to cold as often as possible .When things were really bad he was prescribed Oramorph liquid 10mls in which I mixed 5mls with a little water and he held it in his mouth for as long as possible then spat out .The Gelclair we didn't start to use till after treatment was finished and the ulcers were less prevalent .The other treatment the hospital gave Paul was Corlan pellets to hold against the ulcers ,but there were so many it was pointless .At the peak of Paul's discomfort he was prescribed pain relief in the form of MST sachets which were slow release .Made him a little spaced out but definately got him through the last weeks of treatment .Your hospital team will do everthing they can to help him cope ,so keep them informed at all times if he is struggling .

This is a difficult time for you both and the mouth problems can be so miserable .This will eventually get better Kate and his mouth will heal ,You just need to keep really strong and badger a bit with mouth rinses .When Paul was finished treatment and home he was very very tired and down .So first thing in morning I would get him plumped up in bed and then appear with a medium baking bowl the bicarbonate of soda made up in a jug, and encourage him to rinse and spit a few times to get his mouth loosened off.After this his dental routine was swirling as best as he could with Corsydol to help preserve his teeth .At beginning when he were using a straw he also used a syringe to get washes in .

This will be the worst part of treatment now setting in but it WILL improve kate when treatment is finished and recovery with rest and vigilent mouth care has a chance to work. My husband was very naughty and would not do as he was told regarding not eating enough and thought he knew best ,but alas the famous peg tube was his saving grace and kept him hydrated and nourished ,When his mouth started to heal he then moved on to Calshakes which he loved as he could not tolerate the consistency of the ensure drinks.

Thinking of you both .

Bell and Paul.

Thanks to all of you for posting. I have not been on the site for some time as things have been difficult and I had to return to work, so not a lot of time to spare. My husband ended up being in hospital for three weeks and was very ill, his face got some kind of infection. As you said Tony Dr Vas and his registrars were very good and physically my husband is getting stronger. However he has so much of his face removed it is very difficult for him to begin to put his life together. There seems to be no help at all psychologically and even physically we aren't sure if they begin to repair the damage. He is still here though.