what ever you do do not under estimate the hurt the side effects can bring you, the worst one is the contracting of the muscles in the mouth making your tongue feel like its belongs to someone else. but if you tel the nurses of these problems they should and can help you out. the other thing is not being able to swallow any food other than liquidised foods, soup etc will keep you going, along with the flavoured supplements, which you can get from the hospital dietitian.
What ever happens do not be afraid to ask for help, they know the side effects and the pain it brings, but if you try to tough it out it will bite you in the bum.
I thought i could continue working while i had it but after 2 weeks i had to give it up as the fatigue catches up with you, i have never slept so much as i have over the past 3 weeks my GF who gets up at 7am to get our lad off to college he usually bumbles around making lots of noise, but it never hear them, i rise around 10am after going to bed at 10.30 thats nearly sleeping the clock round and that is everyday. if you fall asleep do not fight it makes sure you do everything you can to get yourself through this very painfull period knowing full well that by the end of the last dose of being zapped it will then take you a few weeks or months to get over it.
What really gets me tho is the saliva glands make the saliva 15 times as thick as normal and you feel like you are chewing glue, use the mouth washes regularly and it should be ok also take the advice of the nurses and they have some gems, i took there advice about bicarbonate of soda to use as a soft mouth wash i was a bit sceptical at first but now i have used it it works and it is softer on the gums and inside of the mouth, the other mouth washes do sting but if you can put up with a bit of excess pain then you should be ok.
look forward to your comments
Biggles13 (aka Big Al)
