My husband does drink alcohol. He has only ever drank "Black Russians - Kahlua and vodka. He has one a day. He didn't have one during or after treatment ended for a few months until his mouth and throat healed. He now has one a day but dilutes it with a little water. There are no guarantees with this cancer as far as recurrances are concerned. My husband greatly values quality of life over quantity and has always said "everything in moderation". Life is about choices and there are no guarantees - so here's a toast to a Healthy, Happy New Year!

My husband Ron is 6 year's cancer free. He has always liked Margaritas and was concerned about drinking too. He talked to his Doctors and they said it should be fine, but in moderation. So that's what he does. He still gets to enjoy the Margaritas but he's careful. I'm with Wanda....life is about choices and there are no guarantees. Have a Happy New Year!

Shelley

I've never drink remaining occasions or parties... but one of my friend is a heavy drinker and he lots of time felt after drink and last year Dr. told him about his OC disease and suggest to left drinking....

thanks for all your replies. Charm and David your replies made me smile! I love the idea of it going in the tube Charm!
I think I'll be having a beer this new year's eve.
Of course no hard liquor (never drank anything other than beer and wine anyway).
From what I've read- its the combo of liquor and tobacco that leads to OC not so much liquor on its own?

I didn't drink liquor before, just beer and wine. Wine is too harsh now, especially red wine. And I don't drink all the dark beers that I used to, but I can handle Michelob Ultra and can now mix in a Shiner every now and then.

I've been a very light drinker for the last 15 years or so, maybe one drink a month, so alcohol is almost a non-issue for me but I do like a good beer. Over the summer I attended a wine and beer tasting event and discovered to my delight that a good beer still tastes great! I've had some red wine that burned my tongue like a demon and some that was fine.

My docs also talked moderation.

[quote=monicacc]
From what I've read- its the combo of liquor and tobacco that leads to OC not so much liquor on its own? [/quote]

Well... that's what the general description says. I'm no expert and hesitate to try and tease out the differences in etiology. It just seems safer to me to be safer!

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in on this.

D2

But many non-smokers on here have OC, some moderate drinkers and some who have done neither. I've sat here for a year trying to figure out how I got OC I finally gave up. Do we really know how we got this, no?

When I first got here 80% of oral cancer was caused by environmental factors such as tobacco products and/or excessive alcohol use - that has been supplanted by the HPV virus (which is now the dominate cause, and hence why so many younger people are now coming here) and there are tests for that. EBV has also been closely watched as a causitive factor.

Once you have cancer it is more academic - whether HPV or environmentally induced the treatment modalities are the same.

OC can be caused by many other things as well, virtually anything that irritates the oral tissues on a regular basis, which might explain the small percentage of unknown etiology.

The immune system plays a roll and genetic propensity may also factor in to some degree.

Thanks Garry- I don;t know where I fit in that. I smoked in my early twenties and then on and off for 5 years till I finally quit for good a year before I was dx. Never a heavy smoker or drinker. Not HPV positive. But did use Listerine twice a day for 10 years- so who knows? I just think my mouth was my 'weakest link' - I had gum disease and dental issues for years but I don't think drinking alchohol was a direct factor in my cancer. I obvioulsy want to eliminate everything that may lead to reccurrence though and have stopped using Listerine but figure the occasional beer should be ok. I'm confused now!

What's EBV?