My name is Tom and I just turned 37. I have been reading your posting on this website and found them helpful.

I was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Cancer of the oral tongue in early June of this year. I had a partial glossectomy and modified neck dissection. The pathology results after the surgery reveled that there were 4 lymph nodes infective. The stage of the cancer was stage IV, T2N2bM0.

After recovering from surgery, I underwent 31 IMRT radiation treatments and 3 chemo sessions. I finish my treatments about 8 weeks ago. I had a feeding tube put in during treatment and rely on it for 95% of my calories. I am able to eat eggs and few other things now, but usually only once a day. Like many others I am having problems with swallowing my own salvia and sinus drainages.

After my treatment was over, I experience anxiety attacks and bouts of depression. The anxiety attacks are gone now. I still battle some depression. My biggest problem is not being able to swallow though. I was hoping that after 8 weeks, I would be eating normally again. When I asked my doctor

HI Tom,

Welcome to the board...I'm sure you will get other more detailed answers than mine...I never had the PEG tube when I went through radiation and I am just now starting chemo.

From all the answers I've seen on the board it seems as if a good rule of thumb has been 1 month of recovery for every week of radiation. Although everyone is different I found this was close in my case (still have a bit of a swallowing problem on some things) My radiation ended on January 25. Besides eggs, one of the first foods I was able to eat was meatloaf with lots of gravy. It tasted wonderful, and the mashed potatoes with gravy went down too. You might try that, being a ground meat it was not hard to swallow.

As for the depression I will let more experienced people handle that question, because I've read some really good answers from members of this forum regarding depression.

Take care,
Dinah

Depression seems to be part and parcel of the whole deal, my wife and I are both in therapy, and on antidepressants........don`t believe they will make you care free but they do help to cope with it all..........none of this is easy......and anything that helps a little is worth a try.........Packer

Welcome Tom,
I had base of tonugue tumor and neck nodes as well. I went through over 40 radiation treatments with a small amount of chemo thrown in. I too, have had the feeding tube since about 3 weeks after radiation began. I finished radiation around September 6th and experienced similar feelings as you. Once I got home I got very depressed and sort of freaked out. I sought out counselling...there are a lot of free counselling services from cancercare and others. Then I started taking a nice long walk every day and that really helped me.
I have been out of treatment for approximately 9 weeks and I still totally depend on my PEG. I have been trying to eat a little but I find it very difficult to get much down. In the beginning my expectations were that I would be rid of the PEG in 2 months, but I have learned here that for many people it takes much longer than that. So I am trying to be patient about it and am at least happy that I have the PEG, because if I had to depend on eating, I would be wasting away.
You sound like you are on the right road, and coming here is a big help.
I hope that this was at least somewhat enlightening.

Danny

thanks for the replies. I will try some of the things recommened. I developed some swelling in the neck on the side the lymph nodes were removed. I asked my doctor about and he said it was probably from removing the lymph, there was no place for the fluid to go and that is should get better. That was about two weeks ago. The swelling is starting to put pressure on my the underside of my tongue and throat and is making it difficult from my to talk. Has anyone experience this? Thanks,

This is a pretty normal thing that most experience, the lymph fluids accumulate. I found that massage help in the drainage. After about 10 months it finally all went down. I know this seems like a long time, but the body has to develop new pathways to get the fluids out, and this doesn't happen overnight.

Hi. My husband has st 4 base of tongeu. He had almost all his lymph nodes removed. We fought the insurance company and obtained a hospital bed. He sleeps in a upright position , this helpps the fluids drain better. The doctor said it is called epiderma which is caused by removing the lymph nodes and radiation. His neck would swell up and be hard as a rock. The past two months it seems to have gotten a lot better. If ya cant get a hospital bed try try lots of pillows.Michele

Actually the proper term for this is lymphedema. Edema means swelling, lymph, well that's obvious. Lymph massage as a treatment for the reduction of accumulated fluids ( lymphedema) has been a matter of regular practice in most European countries. I tried to get Blue Cross to pay for it here in the states and ran against a brick wall. I found this particularly troublesome since there can be toxic reactions to edema, and it can cause very serious problems if it continues for too long. While sitting up and letting gravity help out... you can't stay in a hospital bed for ever. Massage the area in the direction of the chest. Do this for at least 30 min. a day or twice a day if possible. It does help.