I was diagnosed with stage 3 tongue base cancer Feb. 13 and am a total wreck. My surgeon has said from the beginning no chemo just some radiation. The radiologist said he would lose sleep if I did not get radiation but would not lose any if I did not get chemo. The oncologist is pushing for it and I have declined. I would like to know if anyone has got through radiation without a feeding tube.

My husband got through 6 wks of twice daily radiation without a feeding tube, although, I think it depends on how much weight you can afford to lose........Of course, since then he has had radical resection and has a feeding tube since August. It`s actually no big deal, and it`s only temporary. The main thing is to keep you as strong and healthy as possible.

I definitely side with the radiation oncologist. There is no finite way to be sure a few errant, malignant cells aren't still in the area or somewhere in the lymph tissues between the primary tumor and the neck nodes or those on the floor of the mouth. Irradiating this area will insure that any there, are taken care of. I also agree with him about the chemo. For people who have had more advanced cancers, sometimes it is used at the end as a "body wash" to clean up any micro metastasis that may be further away from the site of the original primary tumor. I declined the chemo at the end of my surgery and radiation, I just didn't have the strength to go through it. I do not regret that decision now almost 4 years later. PET scans of my whole body indicate that I am still cancer free in areas that would have bloomed by now if there were cancer there. It looks like OCF should put up a message board regarding feeding tubes. In the big picture of all that is going to be done to you, it is no big deal. It is painless, and if you want to get the optimum nutrition for a rapid recovery and healing, necessary. Once the severe mucositis and the rest kicks in around your mouth and in your throat from the radiation, swallowing anything is going to be tough. Take the easy way out and never look back.

My mother had a tube when she was in for neck resection, but before radiation. There was about a month between neck surgery and beginning of radiation and the tumor on her tongue grew rather quickly. She tried to keep eating normally, but it was difficult and the doctor told her to use the tube because she was tiring herself out trying to eat by mouth. After she began the radiation and chemo he told her she needed to concentrate on getting through the radiation and chemo not on trying to eat by mouth which became quite trying for her with all the side effects. The tube turned out to be a very good thing indeed. She has had to have more surgery and luckily she never had the tube removed after radiation even though initially it was a major goal for her.

My husband Darren has stage 3 base of the tongue cancer. He is now going into his 8th week of radiation treatments. He also has done chemo within this 8 week period. He had a feeding tube put in a week before his treatments and has been very thankful that he did. It is very important that you keep up your nutrition through your treatments.

With the feeding tube in and in place, I stil lost almost 70lbs. during treatment. (chemo and radiation) I really don't know what I would have done without the feeding tube in. It not only helped me with my nutritional needs but it also helped keep me hydrated and out of the hospital. There is no way I could have swallowed the water necessary to keep me hydrated, my mouth was just too sore. The feeding tube is easy to use, easy to hide underneath clothing, and it does not smell. (My biggest fear.) Of all the things that can happened because of a cancer diagnoses, the feeding tube is the easiest thing to endure--comparatively speaking, it really is a "walk in the park." My feeding tube was in place for well over a year with little problem, and it stayed with me until I felt confident that I was getting enough nourishment without the feeding tube.

Hi, This is my first time on the board and so far its been extremely helpful. My sister had radiation treatment for her oral cancer of the tongue. At this moment she has major sores in her throat and can barely eat. They are recommending a feedng tube, she is losing tons of weight and I fear for her lack of nutrition. From what I see on this board it seems that a feeding tube would be very helpful. They say her sores aren't healing because her eating of normal food is irritating the throat over and over again. Can somebody please tell me all about the feeding tube, is it painful, does it help? About sores in the throat area and if they ever get better. Its really painful to see her go through this. Thank you in advance. You are all an inspiration and I wish speedy recoveries and good health for everyone.

I'll start by saying that the tube is probably a good idea. For myself I was totally resistant to the idea because one of my fears was that the cancer was so advanced that I would permanently need the tube (it wasn't and I didn't). In my case inserting the tube was the worst of the procedure. Because of previous stomach surgery and how extraordinarly burnt my throat was from radiation they had to do surgery to put the tube in. It was a big incision and I was in a lot of pain for a couple of days. After I started recovering from the surgery the tube was relatively problem free. I was always in some discomfort at the tube site and others have told me that they have also experienced that. However, the pain was mild and certainly tolerable as opposed to not being able to swallow at all. For me the difficulties were more psychological than physical. I did still lose a lot of weight before, during, and after the tube. The tube does not smell and you can still shower without having to wrap it or cover the site. It's kind of a pain to travel with all the equipment, syringes, bags, pump, food, etc. but I did some sort overnight trips. We did decide to cancel a couple of plane trips right after 9/11 mostly because I was still so weak but I also didn't want to have to deal with explaining all of my paraphernalia to security.

Eli! The feeding tube is no big deal. If you have read my post about this in another section of this forum, you will know I was irrationally afraid of this, and embarrassed when it proved to be a piece of cake. I had an IV started, and when I woke up had a tube. Does NOT hurt. Was a little sore for just a day. Tell your sister that I was the world's greatest doubter, but I have been converted. She needs one.

Eli.... The mucositis will be there from at least the third week of radiation, till perhaps 6-8 weeks after it stops. In most patients it becomes so severe that they cannot eat properly, their mouths are just too sore. This was definitely my case when I went through treatment. The only things that helped at all were a topical anesthetic in solution that I could swish my mouth with to numb things for awhile, and rinsing many times a day with bicarb of soda and salt in warm water. They do go away, but a person can become under nourished if they do not eat properly during this period. The tube is a sure bet. There is more about these sores and other complications in the mouth from treatment on the web site in the dental section, "Dental and oral complications from treatment".