Hi everyone,

I have another question. My husband Ron is 2 months post radiation. His throat is healing but still very painful, he's back to work about 4 days/week, hasn't put on any weight yet (he lost 40 lbs during treatment), but is slowly getting stronger. This past weekend we went out and he had 1 cocktail (rum and 7 up) along with a big glass of water. He just sipped it, it didn't hurt him, and we had a nice evening. We happened to tell one of his relatives about it, and boy did we get raked through the coals over Ron having one drink. Ron has asked his Doctor's about it, and they said it's OK to have an occasional cocktail. In my opinion, if the Doctor's say it's OK, and with all the hell he has been through, I don't see what's the problem in having an occational drink. Now I may be entirely wrong in my thinking, which is why I'm asking this question. Your thoughts and opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks, Shelley

Shelley
I was told by the Docs that the occasional drink was not a problem, so enjoy, relax, you deserve it.
Sunshine...love and hugs
Helen

Hi Shelly; Good for Ron! An nice drink with good company is something of great healing value. My doc told me to feel free to have a drink or a glass of wine, even in the midst of the rads. Alas the damage to my mouth and throat is such that having a nice drink is still an impossiblity for me. I've tried a little watered wine, but it still burns too much to enjoy- that's after 5 months.
I rejoice with you and Ron that he can pick up some regular living fairly soon...don't let anyone turn you away from enjoying yourselves! Ever!
Blessings to you both, Fran

Thank you Helen and Fran...I didn't think there was anything wrong with it either, so it shocked me when we got so much flack. I realize his family loves him a lot and they don't want him to do anything harmful that would make the cancer come back. Neither do I! But it was so nice to be out with our friends and socialize. It gave Ron (and myself) a few hours that we could forget about cancer, we were a "regular" couple again. It was a healing experience for us. I guess in the future, if we do that again, we just won't tell certain family members.

Shelley

Hello Shelley

I am 18 months from radiation and don't drink alcohol because the taste is unpleasant to me. Wine tastes like vinegar.

However, if Ron likes the taste then go for it! After all, quality of life is a major consideration.

Best wishes to you both from Helen

I went to the UP of Michigan this weekend and had a few yagermeisters, rum and cokes, and a half of a beer. Not all in one sitting. But I must admit it felt good. I wasn

Shelley; It is no ones business whether Ron has one drink or several if his throat can stand it, he is lucky. I am 9 months post treatment and a sip of wine sets me on fire. Forget pepper of any kind!
Darrell

Robert, forget that Yag stuff, that WILL kill you!

Shelley, The "Official" word on the question of alcohol is that statistically people do better if they don't drink. The exact percentage better is hard to get out of the Doctors. In my opinion live life as best you can. If a little beer or wine helps then don't worry. If a LOT of beer or wine dosn't help then you have a problem. (I expect some flack for that one). I believe it probably safer to avoid strong concentrations of alcohol.

Sometime after my husband's treatment he started again with a beer a day - now up to two everyday. I was very concerned and asked the doctor who said a few were okay. Stephen feels that life is not complete without his beer! Also is was a wonderful day for him when he was able to taste a glass of fine wine with a nice dinner!

Debbie M, husband had SCC, Tonsil, T4

as everyone knows I love my red wine but I have a rule that the slightest sore spot in my mouth and no wine till it's gone, no-one wants to risk damage to raw tissue.
Sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

And as anyone knows, I also love my wine and beer. Doctor sees no problem.

For those of you having trouble drinking wine, I found that I could drink dry white wines and beer in very small quantities a month after radiation. It felt good to sit down with a friend over a beer. It was a couple of years before I was able to drink red wine and then they had to be low in tannins. Now no problems.

Rule of thumb. If it burns your mouth whatever it is, don't drink it. No sense in irritating those tissues.

Take care,
Eileen

I agree with Eileen about staying away from whatever burns your mouth. To this day, I can't drink hard liquor or most after-dinner liqueurs because of the intense burning. Wine, however, typically doesn't burn my mouth and I tend to drink it with dinner fairly regularly.

Cathy

I've mentioned this one before, but the literature given to me by the hospital regarding post rad healing and nutrition suggests a Guiness a day might be a good thing, apparently Guiness has lots of stuff to help gain weight, etc. I suppose the closer to Dublin you are, the better it is. Anyway, asked both the ENT and Oncologist, both said an occasional glass of wine or beer would be ok, stay away from the hard stuff.

Robert, I can identify with your feeling about cigarrette smoke, here in China it's rare to find someone who doesn't smoke, and there's no such thing as no smoking areas. But then the pollution here will probably get me before the second hand smoke does.

Now, I will see if I can get a controversial thread going. As many of you know, the somewhat older profile of a "typical" SCC victim, if you will, was a 55 year old male that drank a lot (mostly hard liquor) and sometimes drinkers that smoked. Some of the older stuff I read drew more connection to heavy drinkers than smokers. In the last 5-10 years that has shifted quite a bit and now it is more unclear as to any direct correlations to at risk behaviors. I, for one, smoked pot for many years and even questioned with my doctors if this could have contributed. They all said studies did not indicate the connection (or correlation, statistically). I believe different because I have seen the inside of a pipe after a bigt weekend. Anyway, the doctor said if you continue the at risk behavior, you could see the cancer manifesting itself somewhere else in the path of the at risk behavior. So, for example, if you (me) were a heavy pot smoker, pot smoking in any degree could trigger the same cancer. By reaon, a heavy drinker/smoker that continues the behavior could see the cancer striking somewhere else.

This line of reasoning would say IF (and only if) we knew what caused the cancer, we should abstain. However, we will never know. An occasional drink shouldn't hurt anything unless any occasion will do. Excessive anything in life other than love seems to cause some trouble some how.

Ed

Because I have no intention of going through this again, I am doing whatever I can do to prevent it, and that is precious little. I figure that I probably had enough hard liquor and wine in my life to hold me, so I have decided not to have any more alcoholic beverages. Seems like a small price to pay, and I find that I have just as good a time as I ever did in social situations. Now if it was chocolate, THAT would be a different story (grin).

Ed, actually you have it backwards. The previous, and still correct number one risk factor is tobacco. Add alcohol (number 2 risk factor) to the equation and it's a cofactor double whammy. Alcohol alone was never number one, though by itself can be a significant risk factor. The most current thinking related to both tobacco and alcohol is that even in those whose risk factors were well known such as tobacco, a co factor in the mutanogenic ability of those two was HPV. We now know that for the 25% of us that didn't have the first two main risk factors this was a major player, but studies are finding that HPV is a facilitator even in those cancers, which are primarily tobacco related. Part of the puzzle of why some smokers get cancer and some do not.

I am up on this, since I have spent the past few weeks researching over the phone with the current thought leaders in all this at a variety of government and research facilities, the correct list of risk factors, since there is so much bad information out there, especially on the web. OCF is printing a "What you need to know about oral cancer" brochure for dentist office waiting rooms, and risk factors is the first chunk of it. The old wives tales of chronic irritation, poor hygiene, etc. having anything at all to do with oral cancer (which they do not), have got to be set straight. What I am saying in the brochure is that there are two types of risk factors, ones that you can control, and those that you cannot. In the cannot range are those that come from statistical issues, and those which are derived by socio-economic issues that lead to a distortion in the list of factors. For instance, blacks get it 2 to 1 over whites, and die from it 2 to 1 over whites. So lots of people say that being black is a risk factor. The truth is there is no biology / genetic issue or difference here; this is because of a list of things that are socio-economic and not biological. I won't go into it in length here, but if you are interested I can elaborate. Al this has to do with underserved populations in the US, both black and white and money/poverty, availability of healthcare, role models, and even education. Ditto the issue of age. As we age our immune system becomes incompetent, and older people get more diseases of all types than younger people. So age is a risk factor

Brian-
Let me know when the Dentist brochures are ready, I'll take a case of them!! - Kris

These brochures have been on my mind and partially done in my computer for two years. It wasn't until the McNeil Pharmaceutical Company, a Division of Johnson and Johnson offered to pay for the printing that they are actually going to get done. I might note that while I spend a portion of my time each day trying to develop a relationship with a corporate sponsor, they are a long time in developing. I began talking with the people at McNeil 2 years ago. More phone calls than I can count later, at Xmas time, they made this possible. It was a chance to get something good actually on the street that will encourage in office examinations, and correctly address the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of oral cancer as a four-fold brochure. While this allows OCF and I to finally bring to fruition something that is needed, it is a restricted donation and may only be used for this specific purpose. For those that do not know much about the world of non-profits, that means no part of it can be used for the actual expenses of the foundation's operation. So be it. We still get to do good, and one very small part of the plan gets to be put into place. We will also be exhibiting at the California Dental Association Meeting in May this year for three days and we will be aggressively trying to get dentists signed up at our booth as members of OCF and making further connections with in that arena. That is possible because CDA had generously offered us a 10-foot both space pro bono at the meeting. 25,000 dental attendees will be at the meeting over 3 days. Like J & J, the CDA relationship was almost 2 years in the making. It's a slow process. But a man who wishes to move a mountain, starts with a small handful of pebbles at a time.

Brian,
Moving pebbles at the rate you have must have been back breaking labor..but a labor of love. I am sure everyone appreciates all you do. The thread attracted my attention as I have often wondered what brought me here..I smoked & still struggle with the nicotine monster and I no longer drink hard alcohol socially, although wine still tastes fine if I brew my own.
Take care all
Maria

Thanks for the kind words. It is a labor which I have come to love, and to be honest after a very selfish life; I am quite surprised that it took me so long to realize that everything up to this point was superficial and egocentric.

Now, to something more important... If you are still struggling with tobacco, there are medical prescription grade supplements that can help wean you away from your addiction. If you are unsuccessful with the over the counter gums, patches etc. that is not the end of things. I will not push you here, but now that you have survived your first dance with the devil, I would be happy to point you towards things that you can ask your doctor about to get away from tobacco once and for all. In the long run a person who has an original SCC and continues to use tobacco will eventually reoccur, and that is a difficult task to defeat. While you have gotten this far, if you wish your future to be bright, you will have to remove this poison from your life. That's all the preaching from me; now if you need assistance on what to talk to your doctor about that might help you, please ask.

Brian, I would be very, very happy to put brochures in the office of every dentist in this small town and will happily pay the postage to get them to me. It was a local dentist who told me not to worry about the red spot in the back of my mouth. Yes, indeed, I will do a happy dance to be able to provide such information.

Edited to say that if there are enough, I will do the other small towns in the area. I think outside of the big cities, there is a pitiful lack of information.

Brian, please send me brochures, too. I am more than happy to distribute them and pay for the postage to get them to me. Thank you for everything, Carol

Brian
Thank You! In every other area of my life I can say this from the last stand point of a leader, as far as nicotine goes I need to be vigilant in defining reality by removing this poison and not following my cravings.
Off to educate those unaware!
Take care
Maria