Linda, I hinted stongly to my wife that I wanted to try a cheesburger and then a slice of pizza. I assume that's because in the last 3 months I have watched 1,000,000 burger and pizza commercials!! She came through with the cheeseburger and I sat hoping the next day for my pizza. It didn't come & I didn't say anything because she has done soooo much. Two nights ago one of her employees, Pokey (a story for another Post) showed up at my front door with a slice of pizza from Pappa Johns. When I did eat pizza, my favorite was Pizza Hut's Meatlovers Pan but beggers can't be choosers. I also let it slide that Pokey was on the clock and I wonder where the other pieces of the pizza were since mine wasn't that hot!! To weak to go there. I could taste the sausage, the pepperoni and the red sauce but the melted gooey cheese was disapointing. I also felt really bloated after eating but al least I finally got my pizza. I'll talk to Pokey when I feel stronger.

Linda,
Good to hear you're doing well. I've pretty much healed burn wise on the face and neck, the inside of the mouth is still pretty raw, but I'm almost off of the sustained release morphine completely, and stepping down on almost all of the breakthrough pain meds.

No taste yet, but I'm hoping for a return soon. I have a fair bit of TMJ-style pain on the opposite side, almost like a pinched nerve sort of pain on occasion. I am undergoing some massage therapy for that next week, hopefully we'll see some improvement there
Take care
Wayne

Tim, it was great to hear from you, and you sound like your doing good! I really hate to answer some of your questions because im going to guess im a rare case(compared to the others i have talked to)I never did take any pain meds while doing radiation or after treatment either. Now im not saying that 1 week after treatment my throat didnt hurt, cause it did, and i had the patch and the codine(breakthrough) ready the whole time during and after but, it just didnt seem that bad enough to take it, let me explain, i had my tonsils taken out before my rad.that is where they found the source is my right one, now that hurt like "hell" i stayed on the pain meds. all the first week, i didnt even wake up unless it was to take more pain medicine ( i have given birth to children and trust me, that didnt even compare, haha. So i cant help you on that question, but the mucous/phlegm OMG that is one of my biggest pain in the butt there is, i hate that alot. I will say it is getting a little better with week 2, but then again, i got thrush back in my mouth so that blew that right out of the water. I have been told that it will last for about 3-4 weeks, i cant wait until that goes away though. I will have to say, im proud of you for still drinking and eating, that is something i cant get myself to do yet...as im sure you have read my post! But i am going to try really hard this next week, and i will report next Tuesday anyother changes going on. Keep in touch and let me know your progress as well. Great talking to you!

David, I have to say, i was reading all the post late one night and i came across yours, and i laughed and laughed,(you made my day) that was the funniest thing i have heard...you describe what everyone is thinking i promise you! Its funny how we take eating(tasteing) for granted. It made me feel like a "fat kid" in a candy store!!! You hit it right on the button. It still makes me laugh to think about that cheeseburger i could almost taste it with you describing it, haha, and im soooo glad you got your pizza too! Keep it coming...i love to hear how the food taste to you (cause that is exactly how it is for all of us too) good luck on your next craving!!! Hahaha

Hey Wayne, Im sorry to hear about the pain on the opposite side, what did they say that was from? And you said "no taste yet", does that mean you have tried to eat? Wow, im so impressed with everyone that can do that, i have some kind of mental block on eating!!! How long have have you been completed with Radiation? How many treatments did you have? Where was you SCC ? Did you have treatment in Canada? Keep in touch and let me know, if you dont mind me being sooo nosey!!! Hope the therapy works!

Linda,
It's been 3 weeks for me since the last of 30 treatments. I started trying to eat solids within a few days. I never did go to a tube, so I've been drinking all along. My cancer was in my left jaw. I had 17 hours of surgery in June where they removed about 40% of my jaw and rebuilt it with fibula from my leg and a free flap graft from my arm.

I did have all of my treatment at the Tom Baker Cancer Center in Calgary, ALberta. It is a fantastic facility, one of the best in the country. A lot of the surgical procedures they used on me were developed by Doctors at the Tom Baker, and I had a couple of them on my team, so I couldn't have gotten better treatment anywhere.

Interestingly, a man I met during treatment is the CEO of a large U.S. company, and could have been treated anywhere he wanted. He chose the Baker center, which says a lot for it.

David, Funny what you say about all the food ads on tv. I never realized it until my husbnad pointed it out. He swore 2/3 of all tv ads were for food. He too went for the cheeseburger when he could first eat. Of course, he would also torture himself by watching the Food Network. I finally forbade him to watch it. It just made him so much worse. Sometimes, he would have me get a carry-out of his favorite food and watch me eat it. I thought it was a little weird when he would sniff my food, but if it made him happy...
He finished treatment 7-13 and we have our 3rd checkup today. Always nerve-wracking, but he looks and feels so much better. He eats almost anything he wants now, but I try to keep it healthy. He is back to work and a normal full schedule. I even have him doing his share of the household chores. So, taste and energy and hair and everything else is right around the corner. Don't get too frustrated everyone! Every day you discover a new food that tastes normal, it is like getting a present.

Thanks for the encouragement

Wayne, Sounds tough to me! Wow, and you are doing this good, im so proud of you, i didnt even start to go through what you did, it amazes me all the different places this cancer hits, its really scarey if you think to much about it! I was a minor case and thank my lucky stars everyday. When i found out, i had read alot on where to get treatment and i did read on Canada. I had heard it was a great place "Tom Baker Cancer Center" but as you know im here in Houston, Texas so M.D. Anderson is in my backyard! Which is a great place too. We are lucky to be able to have a place that knows so much about Cancer. I dont know how you ever went without a tube, and you just kept eating and drinking, im impressed!!!

Today is 3 weeks out of treatment!!! Yipee There has been a few changes, but not much. I do feel better, have more energy. The sore throat, the redness of the skin all gone! Ok i know i have been putting this off, cause i dont want to sound like a total failure, NO I HAVENT EATEN!!! But i will say, i have tried some foods but not many, i have been fighting the good ol' "thrush", which is almost gone AGAIN...(man how many times do i have to look forward to that returning?) So my little goal of eating got pushed back but im here to say, im going to really and truely try this coming week! Oh i have a question for you "been there, done that" people...will my hair in the back of my scalp grow back, if it wasnt directly hit with the radiation? My doc says it will, but what i read on here, some say it wont??? Well thats about all i have to report this week, i really hope everyone is doing great or better, so i will get back to ya'll in another week and let you know if i ever got up enough courage to EAT!!!