Hi everyone,

My name is Pam and I have been reading posts for several months now and decided it was time to introduce myself. I was diagnosed with SCC-Base of Tongue/Stage IV in Feb.04 at 41 years old. I had 40 radiation tx's - 1/2 were conventional and 1/2 were IMRT. Also had 3 rounds of chemo consisting of Carboplatin, Taxol and 5-FU which ended in June '04. Had right radical neck dissection in July '04 -path reports showed no sign of cancer which in itself was surprising since I had large tumor in neck and an enlarged node near collar bone upon diagnosis. All scans since then have also been clear. I finally had the PEG removed in January of this year but didn't manage to gain any weight until just the last 3 months. Eating is a challenge due to the fact that swallowing remains difficult - it has improved and continues to do so slowly - such a lesson in patience! There are items I'm sure I'll never eat again but with experimentation I've discovered there's plenty I can eat. My overall nutrition has improved because I rely heavily on vegetables and fish. Just about any baked fish works well. I can get into a more detailed "laundry" list of what works for me later if anyone is interested.

One way the cancer experience has affected me is in bringing a desire to study nutrition. I am considered starting college in January to pursue a degree in dietetics/nutrition. I would love to be able to work with fellow cancer patients - that was one area I felt was lacking in my treatment - I only saw a nutritionist once and all she did was give me a 6-pack of Boost - alway felt we were on our own to figure out how to get enough calories with the tube - and I didn't because even with the Jevity/Boost/Ensure I still lost 80 pounds - thank goodness I had it to lose but this had to have slowed down my recovery. I feel like I had wonderful medical team - am crazy about my ENT oncologic surgeon and radiation oncologist. So anyway, if I want to pursue this career path I will be almost 50 by the time I could enter the workforce - seems kind of late to get a career started but I think I want to go for it. I have always been a stay-at-home mom, but my kids are now 20, 16 and 14 and are encouraging me to do this as is my wonderful, supportive husband. We will see - I will start with 1 or 2 classes at my local community college to get my feet wet.

Now, I feel like I am rambling on and on. I was shy about posting and now I won't shut up! I wish I had found this site while I was still in treatment because you guys offer up so much support and help. But during treatment I wasn't up to surfing and posting anyway - I'm just glad I found you a couple months ago, everything I have read has given me encouragement to keep moving forward. I just hope I will be able to help someone. Thanks for reading and being here.

Pam