 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | Tom,
You're a survivor in all ways so be proud of what you have accomplished.
As far as your side effects, your dry mouth and taste and dependence on water will likely improve drastically from where it is now but it will take well over a year to do that. Most of us are resigned to wear the molds for the rest of our life but I'm sure you will agree that's a minor inconvenience. Your strength and endurance will improve as your body heals and I even felt I was a better rider post Tx despite the addition of a year to my age. Just be patient and don't expect to recover as if you had the flu. I am going on 19 months post Tx and I noticed an improvement in dry mouth and taste just 2 months ago and even though I would be satisfied it didn't improve further, I hope I see more improvements.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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