David,

A neighbor of my friend had BOT OC about three years ago and he has the same problem. His ENT is from Sloan in NY but he was treated with an IMRT in PA, closer to his home. I'm not sure if he had chemo but I do know that he had a high dose of rad Txs...at one point twice a day. He has thick saliva and can't taste sweets that well.

I could be wrong but I think the saliva glands produce different kinds of saliva, i.e., one produces thin and the other produces thick saliva. Maybe the one that is producing the thick saliva is currently overactive. I had extremely thick saliva, almost to the point that it was hard to swallow and brush my teeth. But, since my tumor and saliva gland has been removed I have noraml saliva. The rad txs will take of that!

If you want I can get in touch with my friends neighbor and get more info or maybe I can get him on the OC site.

Hopefully it gets better with time.

Raymond (Dr. Mike pretty much answered it!)

Last edited by Ray1971; 09-21-2008 08:00 AM.
7-16-08 age 37@Dx, T3N0M0 SCC 4.778cm tumor, left side of oral tongue, non smoker, casual drinker, I am the 4th in my family to have H&N cancer
8-13-08 left neck dissection and 40% of tongue removed, submandibular salivary gland & 14 nodes clean, no chemo, IMRTx35
11-4-08 Recovering & feeling better