 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | Susan,
You will get better and as your saliva and taste improve, which I think go hand and hand, everything will get back to normal. I really didn't notice any improvement in my saliva/taste until my 4th month post; then at 5 months a tad better but it wasn't until my 15th month post that I really saw a big improvement. Yea eating was not fun at first but as your saliva improves it will come back. I stuck to anything that I could find enjoyment from like pancakes and soft eggs with plenty of syrup lol, TV dinners with plenty of gravy stuff. Forget the fat, in fact GO FOR IT. The fattier the better. I also drank a can of Carnation Instant BK VHC with each meal mixed half n half with whole fatty milk just to make sure I was getting those all important calories. I tried to get 3000 every day and I didn't gain a pound my first year post so that tells me my body needed every calorie.
Hang in there, it will only get better from here on out.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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