Needle

Mum's tongue looks burnt. Black and burnt, partly from the combination of chemo and radiotherapy. I see it every night and day, because her friend gave her a solution which will help soothe her throat inflammation. So just after waking up, and just before bed, I must inject the reddish-brown liquid onto her tongue, on the walls of her mouth and into her throat.

How do I do that? With a syringe. It's the first time I've ever come so close to administering medicine with a syringe, and the sharp needle head always looks menacing. 0.5ml each time, not more not less. I must slowly, slowly press the syringe, and the solution will squirt into her mouth. There are areas I should target, places on the walls of her oral cavity where it looks bruised, and also deep into her throat where the flesh is redder and more inflamed. I feel like a nurse every time I squirt the medicine with the syringe, even though I am ever so careful not to stick the needle into her flesh... or into my own flesh!

Mum says her throat aches a  little less after the medicine is administered. A little less doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt any more, because it still does. And since the radiotherapy, she has been producing more phloem, and her saliva is more 'bubbly' in texture than before, and bitter tasting, she says.

Hopefully, with time, her inflammation with die down and disappear, and she will no longer feel any discomfort when eating or drinking...