Gale, fwiw, my radiation oncologist told me that metal fillings might cause extra irritation of the gums/lining of the cheek near the filling but wouldn't really make any difference in the effectiveness of the radiation. I have 5 teeth with big metal fillings and I did get mucositis sores/lumps on my cheeks near them but nothing too awful (I also got sores in several spots with no fillings so who knows). I don't know about crowns because I don't have any.

As for DVDs, if you aren't already signed up, this would be a great time to sign up for a Netflix membership on the web. They give great recommendations for you once you put a few movies you want to see on their list and rate some movies you've seen. I usually am not that into comedy movies but during my treatment, that was all I wanted to see--nothing to heavy for me thankyouverymuch. If I had a week when I didn't want to see movies, no big deal, there's no time limit for how long you can keep the DVDs and as soon as you send one back, they send the next one on your list.

As for the PEG, getting one is no fun (Barry should be prepared for a few days after the surgery where every time you use your stomach muscle at all it hurts), but I do think it makes treatment much much easier. With the chemo, he may want to consider getting a port too. Especially if he has hard to find veins. I am very happy that I got the port and they combined the PEG and Port surgeries so that I got them both on one day.


SCC(T2N0M0) part.glossectomy & neck dissect 2/9/05 & 2/25/05.33 IMRT(66 Gy),2 Cisplatin ended 06/03/05.Stage I breast cancer treated 2/05-11/05.Surgery to remove esophageal stricture 07/06, still having dilatations to keep esophagus open.Dysphagia. "When you're going through hell, keep going"