52 year old Male, Diagnosed 11/23/2022 with HPV+ p16 p40 cancer

Hey great now you are down to an hour's drive one way, that makes a difference, skip the get a room idea I posted earlier. My things are changing fast for you.

Take care, God Bless-Russ

Congrats on your recovery progression.

Congrats on your NED Smitty! Hope you have continued success.

Your posts are helping me so much to know what to expect. I honestly had no warnings or was told anything about what to expect before surgery. It was just sugar coated and I was in no way prepared for what I went through. Now I’m facing radiation and possibly chemo and I’m still healing from surgery! It’s all so overwhelming. I’m trying to be ahead of the “game” this time before radiation starts. So thankful for this site. 🙏🏻

That’s awesome!!! So happy for you.

Hello Garland I am doing pretty well. How time flies, 7 treatments already, wow. The effects you are feeling will get worse sorry to say but you just have to learn to deal with them the best you can till you get past this treatment. Your effects may not be too bad it varies per person but it is still not nice at all. But you can feel good each time you get a treatment that those cancer cells are getting killed and you are one bit closer to being cancer free. You got this Garland, and you know how to do it one day at a time and NEGU!!

You may be getting to the time when your saliva will get thick. You can rinse as often as needed to keep it cleaned out and your mouth feeling better with a salt and baking soda mix I will post below. As for dry mouth for now just use water, juice whatever you want to sip on to keep it from being dry and if you can get chewing gum with Xylitol in it and there is a product called Xylimelts that is a lozenge you put in your mouth and it adheres to your tooth or gum so it can be put in over night because it sticks and you won't swallow it at night. I will post those below also.

Garland Here Are Recipes

For the salt/baking soda mixes.

Rinse as often or as little as needed to deal with thick saliva even the stringy stuff.

The trick is to stay ahead of it as best you can.

There are no easy solutions but this will eventually quit.

You may find it beneficial to sleep in a recliner to keep the thick stuff out of your throat and airway.

Laying down directs it to the back of your mouth/throat area.

Even in a recliner I would wake up at times with my air cut off and had to work at getting it cleared out.

Wishing You The Best-Take Care-God Bless-Russ

Mouth Rinse Recipes to Use During Chemotherapy

Soda and Salt Mouth Rinse

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup of warm water

Mix well until salt dissolves. Rinse your mouth gently, being careful not to swallow the mixture. Follow this with a plain water rinse to clean out any remaining salt or soda.

Soda Mouth Rinse: A Good Rinse for Before You Eat

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of warm water

Mix well to dissolve the baking soda. This is a good rinse to use before and after a meal because it may soothe any mucositis pain you have, making it easier for you to eat well. Swish and spit, but don't swallow this mixture.

Saltwater Mouth Rinse

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of warm water

Mix well to dissolve the salt. This saltwater rinse is close to the natural chemistry of your own saliva. This may make mouth sores feel better. Rinse well with plain water to remove excess salt.

Salt and Soda Rinse for Gummy Mouth

Some chemotherapy drugs can increase the acidity in your mouth, leading to thick saliva that can be very annoying. This rinse works well for "gummy mouth."

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons baking soda

4 cups of warm water

This rinse will help to neutralize the acid in your mouth and will help dissolve or loosen thick, gummy saliva. Don't drink it, just rinse and spit it out.

Peroxide Rinse for Crusted Sores

If your mouth sores are crusting over, it's important to allow the natural healing process in your body to continue, so a peroxide rinse should be used for no more than two days consecutively.

1 cup hydrogen peroxide

1 cup water or

1 cup salt water (1 teaspoon of salt in 4 cups of water)

If you have crusty mouth sores, try using this rinse three or four times a day for two days. Don't use it for more than two days at a time, because it could prevent mucositis from healing.

Use a non-peroxide rinse for two days, before returning to this mixture.

Hi Russ,

What a blessing you are 🙏🏻 I am going to start some of these rinses today. Warm water rinses definitely feel good and now I know what to add. Thank you so much. I’m 25% done with radiation. My sweet husband is doing his best to keep me motivated and strong. He got my favorite donuts and a cup of coffee this morning to celebrate being 25% done. It sure helps having someone to go through this with. While I’m getting radiation and strapped to the table I repeat over and over “God is with me” and it helps me through it. I noticed today a few blisters in my mouth. I can see soon that a soft food diet will be necessary as my throat hurts more today as well.

Thank goodness for this wonderful forum and thank you Russ for your time.

May God continue to bless you.

NEGU!!! 🙌🏻

Garland