 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | Aunty,
Probably 80% of us had "full mouth " radiation as you call it and we all suffered from dry mouth especially right after radiation ends. I still have some dry mouth issues but no where near what I had at your stage of recovery. Each of us can recover differently but we all share one thing in common and that is it takes all of us a long time to recover so give your body time to heal itself.
Now there are 2 different types of rad Tx normally given to OC patients. Old school or XRT and new school, IMRT. Until 4 or 5 years ago XRT was standard and now IMRT is standard. IMRT is a more focused beam allowing better targeting and therefore less damage to otherwise good cells so patients that received XRT usually suffer more adverse side effects including worse dry mouth than patients that received IMRT. Adverse side effects also depend upon many other variables including tumor location, area radiated, surgery and patient health.
Hang in there, it will get better.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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