Hi John:

My input about anorexia as an after affect from tx is very limited. My understanding of anorexia is that it affects people by making them have a very poor self image and thinking they are fat. They also diet excessively to stay very thin and fear weight gain. This is something that puzzles me since oral cancer survivors struggle so much with eating and maintaining balanced nutrition. This is not something that is deliberatly done to stay thin as in an anorexic person.

Oral cancer patients would love to eat normally but from surgery, radiation with or without chemo, it has ruined our ability to eat normally. This is taking away one of the most basic human instincts which mentally is very painful. Eating becomes work due to the pain, lack of taste, fatigue, excess mucous, dry mouth, throat constictures, sensitized tongue, open sores, trismus, loose teeth, newly created tongue or even a surgically removed tongue. Its not for lack of wanting to eat or trying to be thin that would cause an oral cancer patient to be considered anorexic. Please correct me if Im off target and misunderstand your post.

There are several other after effects which I struggle with on a daily basis. I can probably be of assistance with other after effect topics.