During treatment I came to the conclusion that the combination of chemo (cisplatin) and pain pills more less shut down my stomach making the ingestion of the 2500 calories impossible to do. They tried something to speed up gastric movement but that made me twitch and that was stopped. Ultimately the end of chemo AND the end of pain pills allowed for normal digestion. Everyone is different but I ended up resenting being told to "eat more" when my stomach stayed full and/or I vomited. Weight loss is almost inevitable. I thought I was going to starve to death.

Diagnosed in March 2011. Treatment ended May 28, 2011. Back of tongue cancer with one lymph node(stage 4). Feeding tube 5 - 2011, to 9 - 2011. Some saliva and taste. Eating most foods; meat, fish and dry foods not so well. Swallowing pretty normal otherwise. Doing well now. The future? Who knows.