Hi Eric/AzTarHeel and others,

Keep counting down those last days of treatment!

It sounds like you are in a similar situation as mine, and just a few weeks behind me - SCC left lateral tongue stage T2(-3?)NOMO. I'm 41, never smoked, social/occassional drinker.

On 9/29/03 I had 1/2 my tongue removed, and left neck dissection. On 12/29 I finished 28 IMRT radiation treatments. So, I am now almost 2 weeks post treatment.

The first week post-treatment was rough - like the last week or two of IMRT. Very tired, sore mouth, eaing pretty much liquids only - mostly ensure, yogurt & soymilk (Silk brand is very good). I had previously been eating a lot of soups and very small pieces of food, but even solid pieces in soups & spices got to be too hard towards the end.

But! There is light at the end of the tunnel! It has been just 13 days since my last rad treatment, and it is so nice to be feeling better! With the "new normal" it is easy to be pleased at small steps! (It also is very easy to be frustrated and discouraged...)

Last night I went to a Sushi restuarant, and ate tempura shrimp and vegatables, an egg custard and picked veg!! I had (for me) a great appetite, and I did not have any coughing fits (which had bothered me a lot toward the end of treatment and the first week afterwards).

Not all of my taste buds are back - but something is better than nothing! Hang in there.

With drymouth/saliva, I found that after surgery I had a problem with too much saliva//mucus, then thick saliva and a cough. My rad oncologist gave me a prescription cough syrup because I could not stay still during the rad treatments. I now seem to have more of a dry mouth, and the cough continues, which makes sleep at night very difficult. I wake to drink water about once an hour. Has anyone else experienced this cough?

I worry about how long I'll need to take prescription medication.

Also, My post radiation recovery is not linear. I do better, have lots of energy for a few days, then get amazingly tired for a day or two (probably I am overdoing it - especially on the small # of calories I consume some days). Same with eating (also the story during treatment), I'll have a good day of eating solids, more food, etc, then slip back to barely managing a can of ensure.

Hang in there!
michelle