Akabutu’s Mouthwash

One of the most important weapons in my arsenal when it came to finding comfort during the post surgical application of radiation/chemo combo therapy was the use of Akabutu’s mouthwash.  This mouthwash or oral rinse was developed by Dr. John Akabutu while working at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is my understanding that this isn’t always easy to come by outside of the Alberta cancer community, so for those of you who don’t have easy access, here is one variation on the recipe; From what I’ve been able to discover through … Continue reading Akabutu’s Mouthwash

Another take on the Akabutu’s Mouthwash recipe

Here is another breakdown of the recipe I’ve discovered: From what I’ve been able to discover through various channels Dr. Akabutu’s mouthwash is made up of 60 cc of xylocaine viscous (2%), 50 ml of nystatin suspension (100,000 U/ml), 125 ml of normal saline, 60 mg of hydrocortisone (three tablets of 20 mg), and 3 to 5 ml of glycerine.  This should give you a total volume of 240 ml. The instructions that normally go with the use of the mouthwash are to shake it well, then swish 30 ml of solution around the mouth and throat for one minute … Continue reading Another take on the Akabutu’s Mouthwash recipe

More on Akabutu’s Mouthwash

An anonymous reader of my blog has provided a few more details on the composition of Akabutu’s Mouthwash: For a 240 ml Bottle: Glycerin Cortef 10 mg (cortesone) Ratio-Nystatin susp 100,00 U/ML (anti fungal) PMS-Lidocaine viscous 2% 100ml Lens Plus 360ml (saline solution) which contains salt 0.9% Notes on preparing the solution. I hope that is helpful to some of you. Please note, however, that I have no real idea of the validity of this recipe and that using it is at your own risk. I also must caution you that I also have no understanding of copyright/patent infringements that … Continue reading More on Akabutu’s Mouthwash

Akabutu’s Mouthwash

As part of my resolve to reinvigorate this blog, I’ve been probing the access logs to find out who has been reading the material while it (the blog) has remained static. It doesn’t actually tell me the ‘who’ part, but does give me an indication of the geographic origin of the connection, and the search term used to find the blog. For instance, I can tell you that someone in Singapore was studying the forearm flap photos on Jan. 10, 2010, and that someone in Belgium was having a look at my comments on the effects of Cisplatin on tinnitus. … Continue reading Akabutu’s Mouthwash

Another bleak autumn day. The quality of light is disconcerting, giving everything a grayish feeling to it, quite appropriate as the plants and animals start to hunker down for another winter. Its one of those days that make me wish for snow to bring some brightness to it all. All the browns and greys out there with the now bare trees, in this quality of light, is depressing! I’ve been hiding in the basement office, supposedly studying for yet another exam. It seems like there’s always another exam… Instead of spending all the time studying Service Strategy, I’ve been tinkering … Continue reading

Take a deep breath… the hearing in my left ear has corrected itself, no thanks to any of the doctors! We still have the incessant white noise background, although the periodic high pitched, metallic whine of tinnitus is occurring with less and less regularity, with no hint of seeing the audiologist any time soon. In fact, I’m a bit disappointed in the ‘after care’. My call to Dr. Williams’ office got the response that I should talk to my radiation doctor, after my radiation doctor (Dr. Jha) specifically told me to use Dr. Williams for all my concerns going forward. … Continue reading

Nearly there…

I really do have to say that the last few weeks feels like running a marathon unprepared. I am tired, weak, sloughing off the pounds and, as of Monday of this week, was pronounced ‘dehydrated’.Eating is not the first thing on my personal agenda, but it would appear that weight gain is at the top of my caregivers’ list. Now, to be fair, I haven’t tried any proper food in over a week, but have restricted my intake to Ensure, Boost and variations on a theme. There may actually be some taste sensation coming back but I wouldn’t really know, … Continue reading Nearly there…

White Noise…

Sometimes a bit of white noise in the background is more comforting than silence. I haven’t written in a week, through a week that had promised all sorts of challenge. I’m sure that some of you who check in regularly may be concerned. Don’t be. All things are moving forward nicely… little to no problems. The major challenge is that a change to the anti-nausea drugs is making me very lethargic… down right sleepy, really. I am not sick. I am not spewing everywhere and everything as I did last time. We even seemed to have gotten the hiccups under … Continue reading White Noise…

"Surgery is easy. The rest is hard."

I guess that I’m kinda falling behind on the reporting, here… my brother dropped by after work with a contribution for the ‘fridge (beef stroganoff… I’m looking forward to that!) and mentioned that he’d had a look at the blog. He seems to be in agreement with my assessment about the contribution to fatigue that my lack of exercise may be making. Now that we’re not virtual prisoners because of the extreme cold, I need to start to address that. Hell, we’ve got access to this multi-million dollar gym and pool, I’m paying the monthly fees, and I never go. … Continue reading "Surgery is easy. The rest is hard."