 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | I am almost 2 years post Tx, had the full boatload of radiation (IMRT), and have very few side effects today. I can eat virtually anything, including hot & spicy, foods taste normal again, swallowing is not an issue. I do drink a little more water than I used too and that's about it. My taste buds started to recover about 2 months post Tx with the sensation of sweets being to last to recover (at about a year or so out).
The side effects will be more pronounced if you had XRT. Because of the IMRT, they were able to salvage most of my salivary function although it took about 18 months for it to recover. With xrt, you may have xerostomia (dry mouth) issues for life, but this is quite manageable.
The mucositis is pretty standard in the immediate post Tx as well as ear aches while the eustachian tubes heal themselves from the radiation damage.
The effects are mainly short term.
Gary Allsebrook
***********************************
Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
________________________________________________________
"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
| 
