Completely understand. I remember back in January, my sister sent me a 'care package' that was really sweet. She sent along a jar of plain vaseline for applying to lips - plain vaseline has no perfumes or scents that affect a person undergoing chemo and radiation. It helps to use it when starting chemo and radiation as they tend to pull moisture from the body. The care package also contained boxes of instant mashed potatoes, baby food, pudding, baby cereal and Flintstones childrens vitamins. While this may seem odd at first, it really helped to keep nutrition up as I became more and more tired and unable to eat regular food.
I also receive a pack of women's low cut cotton socks. Again, odd, until you realize that regular men's pull-up tube socks or dress socks hurt your legs once chemo starts. My legs were swollen and if I used regular men's socks, it looked like dough was hanging over the tops of my socks. The low-cut cotton socks helped me to be free of this condition and allowed blood to circulate better. She also sent me about 6 pair of doctor scrubs, both tops and bottoms. Perfect! The V-neck scrubs were great to wear during my chemo days to allow the Med Techs access to my chest port for the chemotherapy infusions. Great to for exams and radiation as you don't have to change out of your shirt for blood work, blood pressure and review of the affected sites by your doctor. The bottoms are nice and comfortable and have a draw string front to adjust for weight fluctuations. I recommend them for going through treatment. If you know of someone working at a hospital, they may be able to snag a few pairs.
With chemo and radiation, be sure not to have strong food or cooking odors in the house with your husband. The treatment dulls your taste buds, but makes your olfactory system almost hypersensitive to food and cooking smells. Anything fried made me nauseous and cooking meat made me green. Additionally, make sure there are no trash odors from the kitchen trash can or garbage disposal, I was really sensitive to this for a short time. Ask your husband if anything smells funny to him and move it away from him. It can really help to make him more comfortable.
The good news is, normal taste will return after the treatments abate. I am told that after radiation ends, the sore throat and dry throat lessen overtime.
Don't give up the fight for one minute! You both are going to be fine, just forge ahead one hour and one day at a time and fight!
One Love