I finished radiation in November and by February I was eating, drinking and feeling lucky. Then I developed trismus. There's an outfit called dynasplint that provided an apparatus to use to stretch my mouth. However the pain was so severe, in the joint at the corners of my mouth, that she told me to quit using it. I have plenty of pain meds but am trying to use them cautiously.
Has anyone dealt with this? When it began, I could open to 20 cm. Now it's about 5 tongue depressors.
I had another PET today and it appears the cancer is back! So I will be having a biopsy on 7/28. Thanks to anyone who can give me some encouragement.

Nancy

Glad to see you started your own threads. In addition to this forum, OCF provides great advice and information on all the issues connected with oral cancer. Until you get more familiar, here is a direct link to the pages on Trismus: OCF-Trismus Just click on it and read away
ENCOURAGEMENT is a speciality of this forum. I can't tell you how many times I have been discouraged and depressed until I logged on here and was inspired by the other posters.
Nobody really knows how bad it is to have the cancer come back except for those of us who suffer through it yet again.
The trismus does creep up on you very slowly. If I were you, I would NOT be taking my medical advice from a company representative of a commercial device like dynasplint. You really need to see someone with hands on experience with oral cancer patients, preferably a prothodontist (a specialized dentist)or a speech therapist. I know I am repeating myself from a prior post but the stretching exercises do really hurt in the jaw joints, especially at first.
It is all so overwhelming but keep logging on here and read about everyone who has gone through what you are suffering and survived and even thrived. Also you may benefit from a support group- check out all your local hospitals to see if they have one - you do not have to have had your treatment there to join a group. I like OCF better than an inperson support team as it is open at 3:30 in the morning when I can't sleep like tonight due to mucous and withdrawal from the fentanyl patches. Read some of Christine's postings about positive attitude, and most definitely read the summaries of Treatments at the bottom of people's postings. (You may want to edit yours to add dates of your TX). You will quickly see that the Cancer coming back is not the end of the world, although it feels like it, I know.
Best wishes and good luck
Charm

I am so sorry to hear that the cancer is back. My prayers are with you. My trismus sneaked up on me too, and has become a real problem regarding any dental treatment and throat problems, so obviously I am not going to be of much help to you.