First Side Effect Appears

(In this pic with B2, you can't tell Ed has brain cancer!)

I got a call at 7:10 this morning...my Mom was upset and crying. She said Ed's tongue was bleeding. She said his tongue was red all over like he had been sucking on a red hard candy, but he had had nothing to eat or drink yet. She said they dabbed it with a wash cloth and it came away with blood on it.

I told her I would leave right away and come get him and take him to the doctor, but she suggested I call the doctor instead. I placed a call with the answering service for the doctor on call at 7:14am and the operator said I would get a call back.

I talked to Mama more and she said there appeared to be two 'splits' in Ed's tongue and upon shining a flashlight at the back of his mouth she could tell his throat was angry red and irritated in appearance. She said that Ed said no when she asked if it was painful...in either of the tongue or throat. She also said that this was difference in appearance from the mouth fungus, thrush, that he'd had before. It was not yellow and crusty like the mouth fungus.

I went on to work and by 8:00 am I still had not got a call back from the doctor on call from the staff at the North East Georgia Cancer Care Center. I decided to call the center and ask for a nurse. I spoke to the very lovely and helpful Dawn. After listening carefully to my description given to me by Mama, she explained that this is actually quite common in cancer patients. I told her my Mama had started having Ed wash his mouth with Magic Mouthwash and it was suggested by a family friend who's mother and mother-in-law both took chemo, to wash his mouth with a solution of water, salt and hydrogen peroxide. She agreed both those were good for him and do the salt water solution after meals.

Ed had not wanted to eat breakfast because of the blood, but after washing the blood out his tongue immediately started to look better, and after looking at it for himself in the mirror, he agreed to eat. The nurse at Cancer Care urged us to keep him eating and drinking plenty of fluids.

Later in the day, Mama reassured me Ed was fine, feeling better and enjoying a visit from friends. Thank God, he and we have survived yet another bump in the road on this journey with brain cancer.