I don't agree that you'll be "carrying a bottle of water for the rest of your life!" I don't! Sure, my mouth is dry, I must use liquid to get food down and waking up with my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth isn't fun, but I do manage to walk through life without being attached to a water bottle. I can even talk for 2-3 hours straight without water these days....and I'm not quite a year out from radiation. Don't forget that we are all individual and our healing is individual.

Lisa
36 years old at diagnosis
SCC of the tongue T2N2bM0 Stage IV
post hemi glossectomy and neck dissection (3/28/07), finished 6 weeks of radiation and Cisplatin x2 6/19/07. Biopsy taken from right side of tongue 7/17/08 - results showed infected abscess and no return of SCC!