Hi Sammy, have a nice time in Spain, you deserve it. I'm off to Glastonbury on Wednesday, dont know if I deserve it but me and the wife are going anyhoo .
Deborah, hope you're ok, look after yourself.
Hagg.

Link:The guide to Glastonbury

Have a goood time Hagg. Hope the weather is fine. Post us some pictures!

hello everyone. Well I'm back from Spain and had a lovely holiday.I managed to eat quite well and even had a couple of Sangrias,though watered down and extra sugar put in but by crikey I enjoyed it.It was hard as it was very hot and sunny so I was a bit obsessed about not being in the sun. I had factor 50 on all the time but I still managed to get burnt and now I'm worried about a mole on my chest thats suddenly gone very red and is like a pea under the skin.....can you see where I'm going with this. God will we ever again not live in fear of getting it back. I'm going to see what happens over the next few days and if it doesn't go down its straight to the doctors I think.I'm sure its probably just a spot under my skin but its there at the back of my mind, that one day I went out without my floaty cover up top on,has it done something to me........aaaargh!!!!! I'm cracking up.......

Hello all. Well I've been trying not to come on the site for a while as I was getting a bit freaked out by everything so decided to have a breather. Everything is going ok. I went to see my consultant at the beginning of the month. I did have alittle lump on my gum but after an Xray he decided it was scar tissue,chewing my gum in the night. Its just taking along time to heal because of the radiotherapy.

I was just wondering if anybody else has this problem. I had my lymphnodes removed from my right hand side of my neck before my RT back in August 2007. I was told at the time I may experience pain in my shoulder,neck area becuase of muscles being cut in the op. I have had no real trouble with this in the past but since I have come off my morphine patches I now have severe pain and aching in my shoulder all the time,worse after I've been to work.Its almost like a dead shoulder at the end of the day. I know the morphine probably masked alot of pain but wondered why its suddenly come on 2 yrs post op.Very strange but someting I'm struggling with.Anybody else had this at all?

Hope all is ok with everyone, I'm going to have a quick look at the message board to see whats been going on. Sammy x

Hello Sammy

Please have a look at these past posts regarding neck and shoulder pains.

To avoid chewing your gum and allowing it to heal, you could try wearing a gum shield (bite guard your dentist/consultant could make for you) and also try the advice below:

quote:

'SPLINT OF AIR' instuctions:

quote:

(1) Keep your teeth apart and lips only lightly (or not) touching except for when you swallow! Your jaw is designed to hang loose just like your arms hang loose by your side when you are relaxed.

Learn the "Resting Tongue Position":
Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth and make a 'cluck' sound. At the end of this action, the tip of your tongue should be in the same position that it assumes after swallowing - the correct mandibular rest position. After identifying this position, attempt to maintain it. (The anterior one-third of your tongue should make light contact against the roof of your mouth. Breathe through your nose and use your abdomen ('stomach') muscles for breathing.)
(2). Don't lean on your lower jaw while sitting or sleeping - it encourages clenching as your resists the pressure you place on it.
(3) Learn how to stop clenching/bruxing at night:
My patients have found the following technique helpful :

The Relaxation - Autosuggestion Method
===========================================
1. Lay down on your back with the palms of your hands on your abdomen.
2. Close your eyes and breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose.
2. As you breathe out slowly, feel yourself beginning to relax; feel the tension leaving your body.
3. Now breathe in and out slowly and regularly, at whatever rate is comfortable for you. You should feel your abdomen rise as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out. (abdominal breathing). Do this for a couple of minutes.
4. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, "ONE", silently to yourself. Breathe easily and naturally.
5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm.
6. End with a slow deep breath. As you breathe out say to yourself "I feel relaxed."
7. Tell yourself, "I will get a good night's sleep". "I will not clench on my teeth because I don't want to bite my gums"

Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating "ONE." With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within 2 hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere with the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.
- The Relaxation Response, Herbert Benson, M.D.
===========================================

===============How it works===============
Your mind is suggestible when it is in a relaxed state.
Your self-hypnotic suggestion will cause your subconscious mind to monitor any clenching and biting activity at night. When clenching is detected you will wake up alerted to the undesired behaviour. Once awake, you will relax your muscles and stop clenching on your teeth.

You will soon learn to stop clenching and have uninterrupted sleep. The sleeping brain is capable of responding to the clenching and modifying ingrained patterns of behaviour. After the first couple of days you will seldom awaken because your response will be so quick you will not be awakened. Patients report better sleep, and being more rested while using this method to control clenching.

This night-time retraining carries over into the day. You will catch yourself and be able to control any daytime clenching habit.

Consistent nightly practice will promote rapid treatment progress.

Thankyou for your reply Dr Joshi. I've looked at the other posts about neck & shoulder pain and it seems I'm not alone. I just can't beleive that 2 years nearly post op and post radiotherapy I'm still in alot of pain. I wish this could be told to you at the time but then I suppose would we listen...?It was all alot to take in at the time.

As for chewing my mouth, I did have a mouth guard when I was originally mis diagnose so I'll have to root it out again. Its so sore so I'll have to do something to stop me biting.

I will try the relaxation techniques as well.

Thank you for your advice.

Sammy.

Dear Sammy,
My friend from this web site just sent me one of your posts, i assume it is new one, about just getting your scan done an waiting the weekend for the results, and how stressed you are over all of this, always wondering and waiting for it to return. You mention you are waitress and so am I, your post sounds just like myself, and that is why my friend sent it to me and said we should chat. I am two time throat cancer survivor, I am home now recovering from major surgery on a feeding tube 17 days out of surgery. I should be cancer free again right now, but like you I live with a giant elephant in the room and just wait for everyone to see it. The last two years my doc said I was gona worry it back, and it look like I did, so if i can help someone else live without this worry I would like to try to help. Email me if you would like to talk. I am not very good on this site found you but could not find the post that my friend just sent me. My friend from this site is PETE and he has been a god send to me, thru my three years with cancer, I found him and I don't know what I would do without him to support and listen and advise me. If you want a friend I am here, if not best of luck to you, Denise