Thanks Anne-Marie! I am actually from further East (New Brunswick) but ended up falling in love with an Ontario boy :-)
Your son was so young to be diagnosed! How lucky he was to have you to get through!
I mentioned to ChristineB that I really dislike the Magic Mouthwash. I would rather put up with the sores and get whatever enjoyment I can from eating than numb my whole mouth.
Would be interested in what your over the counter alternative was.
The baking soda/salt rinse is providing some relief, along with making sure my mouth is clean and rinsed. Lots of water is also helping. Just interacting here is lessening my anxiety and I will be here lots!

I am glad that you are able to eat what you want, that is a good thing! I think I read a post you made somewhere that said you are quite young when you were diagnosed and that you were still very scared about recurrence. I hope you can feel more confident that you will be okay as time goes on. I know I have struggled with that. Just reading here about so many who has gone through this more than once actually is making me feel more confident that, even if a recurrence happens, I will be able to get through it too!
Unfortunately, I did have lots of risk factors. I quit smoking years ago but had smoked for 10years when I was younger and I drank quite a lot in my University days. I don't know, it all still feels unfair, whether you have risk factors or not. Just living is toxic. At least that is what I figure :-)

Lori, very sorry you are still having side effects. I wonder about the long-term effects of radation all the time.

It seems like treatment varies depending on where you live, I am on the west coast many of the RO�s and ENT�s don�t recommend surgery unless absolutely necessary (very subjective term), as they want to save it for a reoccurrence. The approach they called it was �organ preservation�. I had T2 N0 and was just over 2 CM BOT. Another co-worker had his show up in a lymph node both of us were HPV+. He was several years ahead of me and they used radiation and chemo, where I only had radiation and we used different treatment centers. On the east coast and other locations, surgery is part of the treatment. In my area, we are seeing more doctors use robotics for surgery but it�s been slow in coming. My wife had open heart surgery over 6 years ago, as she needed her mitral valve repaired and it was done using robotics.

Hi, LBB! I had radiation following my radical resection and sometimes I don't produce enough saliva. I can't eat anything spicy (even salt) or acidic, which greatly limits what I can eat - but what I can eat, I eat plenty of! I take small bites of soft food and am stil here 19+ years later! I found Magic Mouthwash to be a great help. Good luck to you and hang in there!

Thanks Mark, I think you are right. It is quite a journey, isn't it? I hope your journey is soft.

Holy Cow...19+ years!! Amazing and wonderful! I am really hoping to avoid the Magic Mouthwash, used it A LOT during treatment and really disliked it immensely. I have already gotten great advice and am feeling more hopeful that I can push through this. Hearing of your success in being here 19+ years after the beginning of you cancer journey is heartening. Cheers!

Lori - The alternative to Magic Mouthwash that my son remembers is Biotene and it is an over-the-counter item.

Ah yes...I am using Biotene toothpaste now. The mouthwash has some form of acid in it, so it is not great right now. The warm water/baking soda/salt rinse ChristineB suggested is providing some releif.
Thanks for letting me know!

You are welcome!
Im glad to hear the mouth rinse is helping! Sometimes even when we are out of treatment for years, going back to the basics can help.

Yup I lived on the stuff for a while.. that and manuka honey. hopefully you'll feel better soon.