Erik,

Just a quick pep talk from someone who's been away from it for a long time (15 years). I thought I had hit rock bottom in the summer of 1989 when I couldn't take a sip of water without screaming in pain, and I was getting really tired of forcing tasteless mush down my throat to meet some daily calorie goal. (You can see my post under Introduce Yourself - 15 year anniversary for a chronology of surgery and radiation.)

Less than 5 months after that, in January 1990, my husband and I managed to take a trip to the British Virgin Islands where we tried our hands at sailing in the Caribbean and generally vegged out for awhile. That's not to say I was fully recovered by then -- far from it -- but at least the after effects were far more manageable by then, I could eat some normal food in polite company, and the pain had subsided a great deal.

DON'T GIVE UP!!

Tongue SCC (T2M0N0), poorly differentiated, diagnosed 3/89, partial glossectomy and neck dissection 4/89, radiation from early June to late August 1989