Hi My name is Gregor. I had squamous cell carcinoma on the back of the tongue. While getting ca is never "lucky" the place I got it was, in a sense, lucky. The were unable to operate because it would have left me unable to protect my airway and who knows what would have gotten down there?

Anyway, treated with chemo and radiation at the University hospital cancer center. I first went to a local oncologist, simply because he was very close to where I lived. So the first dose of chemo that he gave me was three times the size of the later doses that I got. All I remember about that night was that I ran screaming into the bedroom spewing feces behind me while my wife was screaming and very upset. So I spent the night after my first ambulance ride in the hospital which he sent me and to which I will never go again. So then I started driving the 25 or 30 miles well my wife drove actually to the university medical center. So I had a few weeks of chemo followed by weeks of radiation 35 times and all with another chemo.

I could not have a peg tube installed because I had just a few months earlier fixed an abdominal hernia with mesh, after having the hernia for 10 years or so of living with it. So they put a J-tube into my small intestine in the jejunum I believe that's what the J stands for, which eventually slipped out for the third time at which I just left it out. There was a period of months I don't remember exactly how many in which I did not eat anything at all. This was after the nourishment through the J-tube stopped. I had been obese my adult life and so when I lost weight and it wasn't exactly a bad thing although how I did it was. In fact I lost 5 pounds a week for a while scared my wife to the max.

When I got here today I first read the posts of somebody that was about three weeks after treatment. I don't remember exactly what happened in fact I didn't think I didn't remember and I didn't think that there was a time when I had thick mucus in my throat untell I saw the word mucositis and then I remembered that I had had that. And lasted for a few weeks and then went away leaving me with a dry mouth to this day. When I remember more was the months in which I hate nothing at all I was so hungry it hurt but couldn't and/or wouldn't eat anything even liquid even the inshure stuff was not copasthetic with me.

Wife took very good care of me as best she could. Which actually was quite good. She is a very fearful woman and was ready for me to be all better and back to my life after the first weekend. I had my last treatment on Friday and she thought we would go for it on Monday. Now I feel that it took me close to three years to get back to previous level of ability to function. Even so I have had issues recently. I lost my balance fell a few times stood on a machine that gave me back my balance. Full of weeks ago I went for a walk in the door gave way and I ended up scoring a field goal with my head over the curb and landing on the front left corner of my head and raising quite a goose egg.

So that is as much of my story as I can tell right now. I am dictating it to my MacBook Pro and I tried to correct as much as I could. Because I have not done this before. My computer or computers was not able to do it until now. So I will go to the posts of the people that are three weeks after treatment and try to reassure the wives and happens to be that heating will occur and there will be a new normal. I did not really know what that meant but I do now.

Another thing that is happened recently is having my four front bottom teeth taken out because the salivary gland are as a shed on the CT scan weathered and don't produce saliva which leaves my mouth so dry and my teeth are not protected by the enzymes found in saliva. Nurse I know works in an army hospital says they just routinely take all the teeth out from someone that has this treatment. But then that is the army I suppose they can just order them to have that done. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to do it but I do see the benefit of it.

I know I love my job but I can't really talk about all that happened in three years but you doing does occur and there is a new normal and in some ways it sucks but it's still better than the alternative. Well they did tell me very briefly I might have problems with my teeth after the treatment but they didn't really explain how bad it would be. It seems that all the Dennis I've gone to Oral Surgeon route canal and rude honest and all that they knew about this. If the MDs knew they sure didn't tell me.

Take care,

Gregor

Please write me with any questions - leave a message on this forum.

Welcome to OCF, Gregor! Im sorry to read about what you have been thru. You are a survivor and its always great to have more survivors join our family.

Im a bit surprised to read about the routine of just pulling teeth for OC patients. If its being done after rads then the patient should have hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBO) to prevent osteoradionecrosis down the road.

Best wishes with your continued recovery.

Hi Gregor,

Hello and welcome. After what you have been through, it is inspirational that you want to use your misfortune to give others the benefit of your experience. I wish you well.