Mouth Sores

(Just a note: this post is a little out-dated, the sores are gone now—thank heavens! I just wanted to record this all anyway).

One of the chemo drugs Jacob is getting right now is called Methotrexate. One side effect (there are several) is canker-like sores in the mouth and throat—sometimes through the whole digestive track.

I first noticed them on Sunday, December 18th. It looked like Jacob had 5 or 6 cankers lining his bottom lip. The next day he said that his throat hurt and that he didn’t want to eat anything. That day, Monday, he ate a mini-orange, a bite of avocado and one bite of his dinner. That was it. Nothing else all day long. Tuesday was the same and I was getting worried about dehydration, nutrition, etc. although he was drinking a lot of milk (I think it soothed the sores).

I tried everything I could think of to get some substance in that boy. I made shakes and smoothies (much to the enjoyment of Isaac and Elizabeth). I tried to calorie-pack every bite Jacob might eat but he was not interested in anything.

Finally, out of some desperation (and the need to get out of the house) I piled everyone in the car and announced that we were going out to eat—wherever Jacob wanted. He could choose, I would drive to whatever restaurant he wanted and he could choose anything to eat for lunch. I figured if we just drove around a little bit something would sound good to him. I thought this would be an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Well, the more we drove, the worse he felt. Until finally he said in that unmistakable I’m-gonna-throw-up-voice, “Can we just go home PLEASE?” He puked as we pulled in the driveway.

As I tried to manage the situation by getting Jacob in the shower and the other two kids in the house as quickly as possible, Isaac said, “Mom, where are my chicken stars?” He had been hoping for some nugget-goodness from Carl’s Jr. I told him that he and Elizabeth could eat all the Christmas treats on the counter that the neighbors had been dropping off. Which they did with much delight while Jacob showered and I scrubbed.

I learned an important lesson that day: no matter how hard I try, there things that I cannot control or manipulate, like Jacob eating for example. For the next few days I just let Jacob sit on the couch and I didn’t try to force feed him anything. By the end of the week the sores were pretty much gone and he was eating normally again.

Naturally, I was worried that the sores would return with each subsequent chemo treatment, but by luck or a Christmas miracle that hasn’t been the case so far. Yeah and hooray!