 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | The dry mouth starts after the sticky secretions end. The DM phase will last for the rest of your life and at first will be (probably) extremely dry. Over the course of the next 2 years it will S L O W L Y improve to some point and then you will see no further improvement. I saw a slight but welcomed improvement in my 4th month post Tx; more my 5th month; the biggest improvement in my 14th month and then a tad more in my 24th month and none since. I estimate that I am 90% back to normal. Your taste will improve along with the improvements with your saliva. I say estimate because once you loose your saliva and taste it was impossible for me to remember what my 100% normal was so it's not easy measuring where you are post Tx to what you used to be.
Remember each of us can be different but don't expect miracles.
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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