Let me pose the question clearly: I am a non-smoker, non-drinker (red wine and lemoncello only), male 49, never ill, tumor on roof of mouth discovered May 2004, threatment started July 5 ended August 17. Radiation 36 times (15 minutes a session), chemo 2 weeks, no surgery. Removed molars, no teeth problems. Weight loss : 30 pounds.

My main problem : Infections from radiation burns in mouth, these are the burns to my tongue and left side of my mouth. Those areas are white, tongue looks like a cheap Red Lobster scallop. The area of the tumor is smooth and shows no tumor anymore, Doctor is satisified with the results (he's paid already!). No other cancer was found elsewhere, although I am afraid to look under the bed at night.....

Burn damage to the mouth is so severe I can not eat, and barely can drink. I have been hospitized for 4 weeks. Condition doesn't change! One week home, made me weaker immediately. Condition of tongue :damaged, muscles under the tongue , stressed. Yawning hurts. Top of tongue: split and burned, any acid foods,sugars,salts impossible. Side of mouth: swollen and hurting all the way back to my throat.Saliva: thick, discharge yellow, I rinse 15 times a day. 3 times a night. Can not swallow saliva, seems to burn less when I brush and rinse with Bi-carb-soda.

Foods are limited to soft eggs, oatmeal, clear soups - all warm only.

It seems like Zero improvement since the last day of radiation (8/17/04. Has anyone gone through this pain and time schedule on healing?
Or do I sit on my eggs and become brain dead from CNN and Iraq?

Glad to hear all replys....Merci

All the best,

Christopher

Hello Christopher

The tissues have been subjected to a lot of damage but will heal. It takes time. Normal tissues take 2-3 weeks for healing after a simple wound, here it will take longer. Some of my patients report still getting mouth ulcers 3-4 months after radiotherapy.

The swallowing problem is related to the soreness in tongue and throat - it should improve too.

The thick saliva is related to the damage to the saliva glands. You could try Mucodyne syrup to help thin the saliva.

Best wishes
Vinod :coffee:

Chris,

My friend finished treatment on July 13 and is still fighting the side effects of it. He is just starting different foods other than soup, eggs and water. He needs to gain weight, he is so thin but his throat was burnt and swallowing was impossible. He is still trucking alot experimenting w/ different food but it is still hard. He says cold food hurts worse like ice cream...wonder why? Good luck to you, it will get better! Maur

Hi Christopher and welcome.

This eating business is a long slow job but slowly it comes.

I couldn't eat any foods that were really acidic for over a year. Real fresh tomatoes and fresh orange juice were both very difficult, but I had no problem with lemon juice on pancakes which is strange. Eating is very difficult for at least 6 months possibly up to a year I think. The improvemnets tend to be fortnightly rather than daily.

Even now on a bad day when my still impaired but better than before taste suddenly disappears I go back to the few things that sustained me in the early months, none of which are gourmet, but they kept me going.

Rice pudding with a cup of extra milk added to make it soupy, pureed vegetable soups, one egg souffle omelettes not overcooked, sauted fennel cooked very soft in butter and water, asparagus cooked very soft and dipped in lashings of butter, very thin pancake crepes also cooked in butter, trifle, faggots (chopped liver meatballs), apple tart and double cream, plum tart and cream leaving lots of the pastry though, and biscuits like jaffa cakes or rich tea biscuits buttered together and dipped in earl Grey tea. Earl grey tea is still the best as I find I can taste the tannin in ordinary tea in an unpleasant way.
I have given up trying to eat meat although there are afew types that can be eaten - a slice of corned beef being one. Most others are still like cardboard. Basically the more fat in the meat the more likely you get it down. Pork will go down, but it's not enjoyable so why bother. Drinks that taste ok in the arly days are Belvoir's bottled elderflower water or coca cola. Coca-cola tends to cut the phleghm a bit too first thing.

In the main I can only really enjoy sweet foods now. When the tongue burning goes down you may actually find that things like vegetable curry are ok. Of the fish species I find the softest type the best like plaice or lemon sole very lightly cooked. Anything very meaty like salmon or tuna is out although smoke salmon is ok.

Try going with stong flavoured foods like smoked salmon which slithers down compared to cooked food. Aspargus again has a single flavour. Mixed flavours are a problem initially. I hope this helps a bit.
One other point is that with portions so tiny I continued to lose weight until July 2003 after rads finished in Oct 2002. When meals are on tea plates that happens. You are quite normal if you leave two thirds of what is on your plate.

BTW I am a lifelong non smoker and was also only a very moderate drinker, but I've always been plagued by sore throats and many others I have corresponded with say the same. We are as my consultant said """unfortunate""" to get this disease. But as you think so do I that out of this comes positive things, but that is another story.
I give an outline of my eating improvements on these pages. Burn pics/taste on page 3 and taste after 6 months on page 4.
http://www.fashion-era.com/Radiotherapy_3.htm
http://www.fashion-era.com/Radiotherapy_4.htm

Maureen Dr Joshi said it. Mucodyne. I talked about it to him ages ago but luckily for his patients he has a better memory than
Ishbel.