Hi Colleen!

Dad does pretty well with the way the obturator is affixed to whats left of the roof of his mouth. Unfortunately there has been so much shrinkage since the last obturator was made that it is now too big for his mouth, which does cause some problems.

Dad finished up radiation a week ago today and he did great, only developing those nasty side effects during the last week of treatment. He would like to have a better fitting obturator now, however his mouth is so sore he doesn't feel like he could endure having an impression of his mouth made at this time.

He has always been one to enjoy his coffee in the mornings, and of course the warmth of the coffee tends to loosen the adhesive, so he has his coffee without the obturator, which means that some does come back out his nose.

Dad hopes to have his teeth by Christmas, but he has been told that they will be mostly for cosmetic purposes because of the amount of bone and palate that was removed and the fact that he no longer has any of his own upper teeth.

Since Dad was diagnosed with oral cancer his two older brothers have also been diagnosed with cancer - one has prostate and bladder cancer and the other has just prostate cancer. His father and two younger brothers died of lung cancer in their 50's but they were smokers. The oldest brother that has both bladder and prostate cancer has been told that his is a rapidly growing type. Not good.

All in all Dad is doing great! It's hard to believe that we brought him home from the hospital just 3 months ago. In some ways it seems like it was such a long time ago. It just goes to show that things seem pretty dark at times, but you will get thru it.

Hugs,

Joy