All through diagnosis and treatment I felt like my doctors were right about everything and on top of everything. Since I ended treatment and begun recovery, I feel lost at sea. The docs just say, time, it takes time, but they don't really tell me what to do. I hope I am doing the right things. I take my six cans and 2 liters of water. I rest a lot. I also do things like walk, go to the library, I drove the car on an errand once, and best of all, I am talking again. I also started working with a physical therapist on swallowing and drinking and eating. My question is my oral care. I clean my mouth (rinse and brush) about six/seven times a day. I rinse with salt/baking soda mix, then brush with Biotene toothpaste, then rinse with Biotene mouthwash. Once a day I use the Waterpik water flosser to try to get these sticky secretions out of my mouth. (They come right back.) Am I cleaning my mouth too much? My mouth is still secreting. It slowed down for a week or two, but in the mouth of recovery it has mostly been secreting gunk. Why? Some people here said a couple of weeks and it will stop, but it keeps going? I wonder if I am cleaning my mouth too much. I feel like I have made a lot of progress except for my mouth because of these secretions. Any thoughts? -Michelle


SCC left tonsil, stage IV, HPV+, metastatic to one lymph node. Biopsy 12/23/10; tonsillectomy 1/13/11; DX 1/25/11; Peg in 1/28/11. Peg out 6/29. TX 1/31/11-3/21/11: 35 IMRT plus 3 Cisplatin. Pet-Scan 6/20/11 = CLEAR! Three years out, learning to live with the long-term side effects of radiation while reminding myself to feel blessed.