I used to drink beer before Tx and I had a favorite flavor. My docs said it was OK to drink after Tx like everyone else's docs but beer doesn't taste the same as it used to. Like everything else, the first bite or swallow is normal but after that it doesn't matter what goes in my mouth so I maybe have a beer a week now.

About a month ago I was grilling out, which used to be my all time favorite time to have a beer, so I drank one and then drank a second before I was finished grilling. I ate my dinner and I think I was almost drunk. I swear the next morning I woke up with a hangover. I guess I would be a cheap date if I was back on the market. Tomorrow we are having about 70 people over to our house for a Mothers Day party. I will be grilling, naturally I only use charcoal, But now I'm afraid to have that second beer. I can't remember the last time I felt DRUNK.


Damn this is a cruel cancer!!!

David,
Enjoy the grill and enjoy a beer!!
Too Life!!
Maybe only one though....

My Dr. also stated I could drink in moderation but, to stay away from the "hard stuff." That's fine with me as I got away from that years ago. I have a very occasional beer or glass of wine. David, I also grill quite a bit and always use charcoal. I figure if my father, at age 86, still grills with charcoal, why shouln't I.

I was a fairly active drinker before treatment, still being in my 20s. Since then I admit I haven't been able to give it up. I have a taste for whiskey. Of course now it must be mixed with coke or it burns too much. And beer, I have to really wince to get it down, unless it's my personal favorite beer, Guinness, which is smooth and less carbonated, and goes down a lot easier. Recommended if you want a beer that won't torch your throat. I know it's probably folly to drink that much, but I didn't survive to be boring, and I'm still a younger guy (30 now). It's definitely less than before, but probably more than most of you - unless I'm the only one willing to admit it!

I think that the key here is not so much what you drink but more about moderation. Drinking a six pack with a Mexican meal is NOT moderation - sorry Bill - and "Denial" is not a river in Eygpt. A "normal person" will sometimes drink 1/2 a glass of wine and toss the rest down the sink, an alcy wouldn't think of wasting a drop. I've seen people at weddings going table to table polishing off others drinks while they were on the dancefloor - especially when there was a no host bar but I digress.

This is an issue that has no easy and quick answer and has made many appearences here on the forum. A 12 oz beer and glass of wine both have the equivalent alcohol content of a straight shot - so one has to ask is the type of alcohol the issue or the alcohol content itself? Some advocate not even using mouth washes containing alcohol (or even Nyquil). There has been some data to suggest that anything that causes irritation in the throat may lead to cell mutation and oncogenesis. Even drinking (non-alcoholic)beverages too hot or even too cold has been implicated as a causitive factor.

Like other medication, it is more a matter of "risk and benefit" and whether you can be "rigorously honest" about your true alcohol consumption. IMO an occasional beer or glass of wine is probably not statistically going to increase your odds of a recurrence ("occasionally" doesn't mean "daily").

If I were NOT an alcoholic (12 years in program) would I be sipping on whiskey after all I have through, probably not. Would I have an occasional glass of wine or a beer, probably.

This really a question of what value you place on your life, much like what foods you eat and what toxic exposures you have to deal with. Simply living in certain states increases your cancer risk (Utah has the lowest percentage of cancer per capita).

I drank my first beer since 1997 in Chile last month. They had a German beer microbrewery (Kuntsman) that we kept passing twice every time we went anywhere and after I found out 18 is the legal age there, I took my 18 1/2 year old son and 80 year uncle there and they gave us a sheet of paper with 8 types of beer and a description. Each beer was about a 2 oz shot glass full. One was very sweet as I remember. I hat 6 sips and then I was stunned when they expected me to pick one to drink. I had a glass and ordered an assortment of German sausage and enjoyed the beer. I guess a glass every 10 years isn't excessive, although I drank every last drop!

Gary -- nice post. I'm just over 13 years as a Friend of Bill, and like your discussion of what we would and wouldn't do. It all boils down to having that ability to choose -- I lost it for many years, but have had it back for 13. Watching and working with people who kid themselves as to their "ability" to choose keeps me on course.

I guess, looking at it rationally, given that this cancer thing is looking to kill us, why would anyone even engage in the debate over how much alcohol is enough/too much in terms of recurrence? How many spins of the revolver in a Russian Roulette game does it take to blow your head off? Same effect.

Gary,

I went back and read my post following your response and I see that it doesn't read right. I meant to say that I used to drink maybe a 6 pack over the course of an entire month with Mexican food. I eat Mexican at least 4 times per month but cannot handle beer or any other alcohol since Tx. Mexican food itself doesn't even taste all that great anymore either.

Bill D.

Hi,

The news section of the website has several stories about the relationshiop between alcohol and oral cancer.

See
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/news/story.asp?newsId=18

and
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/news/story.asp?newsId=1118

It seems that the amount and duration are important variables when it comes to alcohol consumption.

And this story
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/news/story.asp?newsId=519
talks about the finding that

"alcohol fuels the production of a growth factor that helps create new blood vessels inside a tumor, a process called angiogenesis. Production of these new blood vessels helps feed tumor cells."

So it appears there is definitely an established relationshiop between alcohol and cancer. What seems to be missing is any study that addresses the risk of recurrence related to consumption of alcohol by survivors or oral cancer and whether or not that risk is greater than the general public. - Sheldon

Gary, do I HAVE to move to Utah?

-- This is such a fascinating topic....I used Listerine for 20 years EVERY SINGLE DAY without missing it even once before I was diagnosed. Many times two or 3x a day....I remember sometimes feeling the burn so bad that my eyes watered> (Seemed to depend on how freshly opened the bottle was, and where I bought it...a grocery store seemed weaker and from Costco type warehouse stores it was more potent. I have researched and found a few dozen articles linking it to possible precancers.

I think the same rule applies to this as EVERYTHING we do in our lives - MODERATION is key. Anything in excess (certainly drinking!!) is bad for us.

During treatment I couldn't even fathom the idea of drinking a glass of wine. EVERYTHING tasted horrible and I couldn't even drink water. *thank God for the PEG!!

I remember my first glass of wine post tx and I thought I'd never drink again.

But, now, I am able to genuinely enjoy 3/4 of a glass (every several days, or maybe once a month) and almost always red. I agree that hard liquor just seems intuitively dangerzone.

JeffL...nice to meet you! I understand your comments about self destruction, but some of us have to come to terms with the results of our diagnosis on our timelines. If someone is motivated to start a macrobiotic vegan diet to support an anti-cancer life post tx, GREAT! But not everyone can or will take these measures....Just like not everyone will stop all drinking.

After all, what's the point of merely surviving? Shouldn't we instead thrive and enjoy life in a balance of health awareness?