Dear friends,

I am now 4.5 months since my last radiation/chemo treatment to the throat, bilateral neck, and oral cavity (max dosage, I think). I don't know if I am imagining things or not, but I feel like I have more dry mouth than I did in the beginning. Has this happened to anyone else?

Also, over the last couple of days, I have had some soreness along my left lateral tongue (where it was resected with my first cancer). Upon inspection, it looks red (to Dan), but he said it was more vascular in nature. I'm thinking that my tongue may be sticking to my molars when my mouth gets dry during sleep. At this point, I am seeing my med/onc team one month and my SO every other other month (so I am being followed monthly). I am being scoped at every visit along with manual palpation. I have an appointment with my med/onc team on the 26th. It's just hard not to worry at this point since I am still recovering both physically and emotionally from this second primary cancer in my tonsil.

I always have water with me, even at night, but I don't often wake up to drink. I start drinking water as soon as I get up. Another factor is that I am nearly done tapering my methadone in the next few days (hopefully).

Any thoughts, input, or advice would be much appreciated!

Love,
Kerri