|
#59871 12-17-2006 05:39 PM | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 149 Senior Member (100+ posts) | OP Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 149 | I am recovering from palatectomy. I was getting better then I started having more frequent headaches, fatigue and pain in the gums. I still have stitches and wounds healing. It's as if the teeth hurt.
It seems that the exercises below and chewing solids have something to do with it. Maybe I should do more liquid foods.
Since I have trismus, I started doing exercises and forcing my mouth open.
Dx 10/06 Adenoid Cystic carcinoma; Stage I. Soft palate/minor salivary glands. Tx surgery 11/06 Tomotherapy (targeted IMRT) 3/07
| | |
#59872 12-18-2006 06:51 AM | Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 378 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 378 | My husband has trismus and uses the Therabyte jaw exerciser with good results. Has anyone discussed that with you? It opens and closes your mouth to a specific target that can be adjusted. If you are forcing your mouth open rather than the more measured stretching provided by the Therabyte you could be irritating the incision area. Even with the device you can overstretch. Jack's dentist told him it was more important to do repetitive stretching more frequently during the day than one big stretching session that does more harm than good. Pain is a sign that there's an issue and you need to discuss it with your medical team.
There's a lot posts about the device that you can do a search on here, and there's a website for the company. Nothing wrong with doing more liquids/pureed foods to see if things settle down as that can take a long time to heal. You don't have to stop solid food just use your own judgement on did it make you feel worse. It's a lot of trial and error on the eating part. Jack also had involvement in his soft palate and it takes awhile, when was your surgery and are you having other treatments?
Good luck, JoAnne
JoAnne - Caregiver to husband, cancer rt. tonsil, mets to soft palate, BOT, 7 lymph nodes - T3N2BM0, stage 4. Robotic assisted surgery, radical neck dissection 2/06; 30 IMTX treatments and 4 cycles of cisplatin completed June 06.
| | |
Forums23 Topics18,168 Posts196,925 Members13,103 | Most Online458 Jan 16th, 2020 | | | |
|