Mary,

I think you'll find a wide range of experiences with spicy foods from people who have been out of treatment awhile. It's probably a combination of: 1) how much salivary function they were able to get back over time, and 2) what areas of their mouth received the heaviest radiation. For me, it was a matter of several months before I could even tolerate bland food again! (Some of my salivary glands were removed during surgery -- also I had XRT, as IMRT wasn't even around then.) It was probably a couple of years before I got back to sampling and dealing with things that were a bit more spicy. Today -- 16 years out -- I still stay away from the hottest types of curries and salsas. The medium ones are about all I can handle.

Cathy

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