Great News! It’s now Wednesday and normally during this time in the week I am blogging about Travis not feeling so good and the lack of sleep he is getting. Well, as for this new machine…Travis got more sleep last night than he has gotten since starting radiation.

The machine seems to be working as planned. Travis was about to sleep and only be woken up every 3 hours or so. When Travis did wake up his mouth did not ache from dry mouth pain thanks to the machine. Travis’ theory is that if he mouth stays wet throughout the night then it helps ease the tongue burning feeling. It was amazing talking with Travis over the phone today as he had so much energy. –I am sure it’s from the extra sleep he is getting.

More and more mouth sores develop in his mouth daily. I told him that I was surprised to know that we are moving into day 4 of the sixth week and he seems in such a good mood. I truly believe that this mouth pump is the answer. I would recommend to radiation patients to order this machine as soon as possible to allow time getting used to the tube hanging out of your mouth and the sponge between your cheek and jaw. It’s a good thing that it came with many large sponges that you can cut smaller to fit your mouth.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Travis is definitely still in pain. He assumes that he is hiding the pain with all the Vicodin he is taking throughout the day. I won’t be surprised if the doctor switches him to a different med tomorrow at his appointment. Travis told me that he thinks he has been covering up a possible fever with the pain pills. I told him it might seem like he has a fever, but it’s really a headache from lack of sleep. Either way, I hope that the doctor will find relief for him tomorrow.

-Danielle