Hello everyone;
Please excuse any speeling or grammar mistakes, I am 4 days post op from excision of a Squamous cell tuomur of the tongue and have just taken my "fix' of codeine, so please bear with me.

In reading the various post on this wonderful site I have noticed, not surprisingly, that there are a lot of smokers. I quit upon diagnosis of the cancer and don't miss it. I have also read inothere sources that alcohol use is also listed as a high risk activity for our type of cancer which I found interesting because I am also a recovering alcoholic. I was just wondering if any of you are ijn the same boat? that boat being: heavy smoker, heavy drinker for many years. we hear a great deal aobut the dangers of smoking but tend to brush over the alcohol component. Knowing that smoking could get me into this mess didn't stop me from smoking and I'm sure it wouldn't have stopped me from drinking so much had I known it too could get me here. I'm just curious.

thanks everyone.

good heatlh to you all

Chris

Hi Chris,

I was a heavy smoker for years but quit well before I developed tonsil cancer. 'They' used to say that five years after quitting smoking that the lungs are the same as those of a non-smoker. Well, they were just screwing with us and here are some more realistic stats:

* "One year after quitting, your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker."

* "Five years after quitting, your risk of stroke is reduced to that of a nonsmoker."

* "Ten years after quitting, the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smokers. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases."

* "Fifteen years after quitting, your risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmokers.

(U.S. Surgeon General's Reports (1988, 1990)

Here's a rather graphic timetable:

Time Table

The references are located at the bottom of the page and are rather impressive; much moreso than the previous Surgeon General's Reports which are now rather dated.

As for drinking, I dunno. Half of my ancestry is from a country where alcoholism is rampant; I think they died of liver disease and stupidity (car crashes and falling off stuff) before oral cancer had a chance. Fortunately, that's not one of my problems but smoking certainly was. At my first ENT appt, the doc asked how often I drank, so it must be a very common occurrence that makes it a standard question.

You ask some very interesting questions! Don't be afraid to ask (seemingly) dumb questions using google. It's not a person and won't judge you! Enter questions like 'rebuilding lungs after smoking,' 'alcohol and oral cancer,' etc.

This site usually is the first reference to the alcohol query:

OCF

The site is kind of a sister-site to this one, but I prefer this one more; it's friendlier and easier to navigate.

Best of luck to you, Chris. My Dad was born in Alberta and I've always wanted to attend the Stampede. Maybe someday!

Mimi

Good Morning Chris,
Quitting smoking was a smart move,you may not miss it at the moment but when you are getting back to normal you will have to resist the temptation to "just try one to prove that you don't need them anymore" one puff and you are a smoker again and this time you will need a great deal of determination to quit. Around 85% of mouth cancer patients are tobacco users.
The question of alcohol seems to be a controversial matter and opinions vary. There is general agreement that heavy drinking is a serious health hazard and alcohol increases the risk of mouth cancer imposed by smoking. The lining of the mouth is a permeable membrane and the permeability is increased by alcohol thus allowing the toxins in tobacco or tobacco smoke to more easily penetrate to the lower layer where tumours form.
I am not a doctor, I am a mouth cancer patient four times over. I enjoy a couple of large glasses of red wine each evening so I have a vested interest in gathering information on the possible connection between alcohol consumption and SCC. To this end I have asked a number of doctors for their views and what I said in the previous paragraph is based on a middle of the road average opinion. There are, of course,extreems; at one end of the scale I was told "if you enjoy a glass of red wine then continue to take it" (I suspect that he enjoys a glass himself)At the other end of the scale another doctor would have had me believe that alcohol is as dangerous as polonium 210 or potassium cyanide, judging by his name and bearing I suspected that he was a member of the muslim faith and his beliefs would tend to add a touch of bias to his understanding of the subject.
I think it is true to say that the jury is still out on the possible dangers of moderate consumption but a verdict has been reached on heavy consumption and also the synergism between tobacco and alcohol, the verdict is Guilty.
Chris, I wish you a speedy recovery, when you are getting back to normal you will probably see that there are a lot of splendid things in this world that you never noticed before and the world has taken on a different complexion, it is called being a survivor.
As I look out of my office window I see snow everywhere and recall my journeys in Canada, where I found the winters were cruel at best, you live in a wonderful country when the sun shines but I would not exchange places with you at this time of the year.
Keep Smiling
John

I was a smoker for 15 years. Also I was chewing Pan (Normally available in India). I had quit smoking since May 2005 ans Pan since Jan 2007. But I was bit alcohollic. I was drinking twicw or thrice a week and I loved to drink ans had no plan to quit till I was diagnosed SCC at the Left side lower jaw ofmy mouth in Jan 2008.
I was lucky to be operated when the size of tumor was 2.5 cm with no metastasis. Half of my Jaw has been removed, the lympo nodes at neck also removed. I finished my RT in April 2008 without knowing its side effects. After my RT I found this wonderful site. Now almost 2 year passed. I am fine. My test buds are back. Only I am taking double time to eat as I have a half mouth. In my last followup check up I asked my doctot if I can drink. He answered "Yes !!". I can take alcohol occassionally. Though I have not taken so far, but I am still scared as while my cancer was detected, I had left everything except drinking.
But life without drinking also very beautiful. I had lost 15 KG during RT and nor regained 7 KGs. So keep smiling as a lots of things are there to enjoy.
Hugs

Good Morning brm1,
When you say you only have half a mouth, are we to understand that the surgeon removed part of the lower jawbone but did not do a reconstruction job using bone and tissue from the somewhere like the forearm?
Keep Smiling
John

Good morning John
Actually half of my lower mandible has been removed and in that place my sergeon has reconstructed taking a flap from my tounge. No bones from any where from my body. So I have no teeths in one side. I had a problem of sinus after RT for which doctors advised to extract upper teeths also as those are no more useful and were putting pressure on the tounge flap. So I removed three upper teeths at lower upper jaw. After that I found that sinus got cured. Now I am OK except that it takes long time to take food as I told. Also the saliva secration is reduced to 60 % because of RT causing problem taking dry foods. But still manage to take some potato chips at times.
Hugs