Hi everyone,

If you have been keeping up with my posts, you know my friend Rod has tonsil cancer.He finished chemo & radiation 2 months ago.He has a feeding tube and just got dentures 2 weeks ago and is trying to eat.Recently he has been having pain in his jaw. Does this mean cancer or could it just be from the dentures?He has very loose bowel movements also. Maybe stress?He won;t see the doc until Oct 1. The doc says visually he looks good, but the jaw pain has just started this week. Any advice? Please reply soon I am a mess!Thanks everyone!God bless, Maur

Hi Maur

(1) Sometimes, new dentures chaff/rubb and cause sores. This is noticed soon (a couple of hours) after inserting the dentures. Get Rod to see his dentist for easing of the dentures to make them comfortable.

(2) Sometimes, the pain is caused the gums getting sore by clenching activity as patients tries to keep the dentures in! Ask Rod to check that he is keeping his teeth apart.

(3) Keep the dentures out at night.

(4) Follow the advice given for jaw pain and bruxism.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes
Vinod :coffee:

Dr Vinod,

Thanks for responding. Rod says he does not have any sores or anything like that but it his lower jaw hurts when he bites down. It could be stress(he has alot right now) and I think he is having a hard time getting used to the dentures. He says he can eat better without them???? He is very depressed and I can't seem to bring him up anymore. He hates how thin he is, and goes on about the feeding tube and because of this his self esteem is low and he proceeds to let his so called girlfriend treat him like crap!He says he would rather be with her than alone because when he is alone all he does is worry about the cancer. I am about ready to give up. I can't keep trying to bring him up when he doesn't help himself. He is taking all my energy and leaving me drained.I try to give this all up to God but then I take it back and try to control it again.I can't make him happy nor can I make him well. I can only be his friend. Anyway thanks for listening. God bless! Maureen

Maureen

There is powerful depth to the old observation, """the moving hand writes and having writ moves on.""" You are rightly doing your duty to your friend but having done what you can, you will need to leave other tasks to others and himself. You have a duty to yourself too - sacrifice but not self sacrifice. So look after yourself!

Best wishes
Vinod :coffee:

As I was writing the above, I sarted off with the thought that Maureen need to change her avatar ( a cow skull!), but decided not to write about it. As soon I posted the above, I noticed that she had changed her avatar to a pussycat! Spooky :yikes:

Vinod :coffee: :coffee: :coffee:

That is pretty funny! The reason I started with the one I chose is because Rod has that exact same tattoo on his back! And since this was all about him....well, I just thought it fit. But today I was really down and I never really liked the tatoo anyway so that's why I changed it! Must have been reading your mind! My hubby calls me a witch, he says I do things like that all of the time!I told him yes, I do -so he better not try to get away with anything! Maureen