Hi all,

I am now half way through my 30 sessions of radiation. After that, my treatment is over! I was fitted for a prosthesis for speaking this week - not sure it will work for me because my flap doesn't move (my entire tongue was surgically removed), but it's worth a try. I've been massaging my lymphedema, but I can't put on a compression mask because it presses my skin against my mouth and causes mouth sores. So no progress on facial swelling, but I figure it will improve post rad. I have mouth sores across my entire inner lip which are rather painful. The salvia is also much worse. Sometimes, I will spontaneously projectile cough salvia. My
mouth is always full of salvia. I can talk, but I try to avoid it because of the salvia. I am always rinsing my mouth. I am also coughing all the time - despite the cough medicine that I have. I wake up every few hours to
cough. Sometimes I cough up salvia, sometimes not. I am drinking coffee, water, and hot chocolate at luke warm/cool temperatures but I cannot swallow much else. I tried a piece of soft bread - I was able to chew it all, but then 15 minutes later I coughed up a literal ball of bread. I had not felt any clog in my throat. I probably won't experiment with that again, though I really do want to try chewing. I try to walk 20,000 - 25,000 steps per day and run or cycle. Feeling really isolated and lonely, but also too gross to hang around fellow humans. If anyone has had similar experiences or thoughts on salvia/cough/swallowing practice/social anxiety, post here. Looking forward to ending treatment and beginning to heal:)

R0se