Radiation for tongue cancer

SASH said:

Radiation
A few of my thoughts.

I had 12 teeth removed prior to radiation. 4 wisdom and 8 molars this was based upon the location and amount of radiation. 1 wisdom tooth was impacted and only had a small amount of decay on it. All others were perfectly fine, but they wanted to protect my lower jaw for the future. Since I have finished treatment, I have had some cavities, and 3 teeth have come out since.

I wasn't able to eat solid food for during treatment, but was able to swallow liquid nutrition. By the end of radiation and for a couple of months after I was still having problems swallowing so I was lucky when I was able to swallow a glass of Gatorade a day.

Ask the doctor for a prescription for magic mix or magic mouthwash which will help numb his mouth when he is eating or swallowing.

Once he has the sores, watch out for food with high sodium as this will cause pain and burning.

Ask the doctor about soaps, shampoos, deodorant, lotions, etc as there are some that are detrimental to treatment.

A positive attitude and sense of humor really helped me get through treatment.

soccerfreaks said:

Let's see
Regarding dental care, I have read of any number of folks who required removal of their teeth prior to radiation for whatever reason. This was not the case in my particular circumstances and I know of many others who did not have to lose their teeth.

What WAS required was the most thorough cleaning of my teeth that I have ever experienced. My wisdom teeth were removed as a safeguard (they were pointed in odd directions, apparently) along with one molar. Otherwise, I was good to go. The cleaning was essential and, as I mention above, I know of others who did require complete removal.

You will discover that regardless of what experiences you read of, what advice you get, cancer has both its generalities and its specifics. This is one of those areas.

I would strongly advise, however, that dad go to the dentist, let him know what is coming up, and let the dentist do what he can to save the situation if possible.

I am not sure why you say he will still be needing to use his tongue and so will not even attempt a guess. Sores do indeed develop and as far as I know, the same old stuff is used even today to alleviate some of that, largely to minimal effect, to be honest, things called Miracle Wash and Magic Wash and Clack, which are pretty much the same concoctions of Lidocain (sp?) and something sweet and syrupy to help get it down, as far as I can tell.

They do not occur at the beginning of rads, but once they do pop up, they tend to hang around for awhile. You need to remember that rads do not stop cooking at the end of the last treatment, but continue to do their job for weeks after. Please remember that, and please, when the time comes, remind dad of that: all of this WILL pass, but it will not simply stop on the last day of treatment.

There are a number of tubes available for nutritional purposes, and I only know about one of them. I have a G Tube, a PEG tube, and this is inserted directly into the stomach, after which it is no problem at all,requiring minimal maintenance of the tube (the likely protein stuff that will be poured down it, if this is his type of tube, is probably going to be Jevity or something of the sort, and these tend to turn to cement in the tube if the tube is not properly flushed after each 'feeding'). Additionally, this particular tube requires a wound, of course, a small hole for the tube to go through the skin to get to the stomach. This must be looked after rather religiously to avoid infection and the like, for the duration of its stay.

But that maintenance, Lisa, is really rather modest and something that dad can do on his own, for the most part, with some occasional help, perhaps from a wound care nurse or whomever was responsible for inserting it.

With radiation, Lisa, there is always the possibility of damage to teeth and gums, and, in particular, as a long-term bummer, to the saliva glands.

To be blunt, the saliva glands can be toasted, depending on the target area and extent of radiation. In my case, I took two shots, mostly to the stomach, every morning for seven weeks, 30 minutes prior to rads, of something called Amifostene (sp?) to try to save my glands. The research available at that time was rather iffy on the efficacy of this drug, and it IS an expensive one (my insurance covered it). I can't say that it worked, but I do have salivary action.

Other damage to the teeth/gums: I am not so sure about the gums, but I have experienced, and others have concurred with this, that it feels like your teeth can actually chip away, can break off, after rads. I do not mean large chunks, but that I can often find small particles of bone in my mouth, which I assume are from the rads. To be honest, this went away over time, but was there for about a year.

Finally, to the first of your questions, eating is problematic. At first, dad should do well. After a point, perhaps into the third week, depending on the extent of his therapy, he will get the sores, he will not want to eat, his taste buds may get funky on him, and he may lose his appetite.

I would encourage you to encourage him to continue eating, even if what he eats is different. Instead of steak and potatoes, maybe he goes with a broth and tea, or with ice cream. My nutritionist insisted that the best thing for me was yogurt, as it was easy to down (it was) and also very good for the gastro tract.

Others suggest smoothies (I did those too, over time), shakes, tea, and an assortment of other things that may be off the beaten path for dad, but good for him nonetheless.

If this sounds bleak, I apologize. I made it through and did not find it all that arduous an experience (in hindsight). It IS a tough road, but it is one that dad can walk.

Best wishes to dad and his family.

Hope and Humor!

Take care,

Joe

I started to have excess sputum my last month of treatment and 2months post treatment.
I found carbonated drinks help thin it. I found nothing to stop it.

Oh I also bought a small portable nebulizer that does not require a prescription on Amazon for around $25 with the saline and it helped with the over production of mucus. As chemoradiation goes on the salivary glands become very irritated and over produce saliva, then after treatment ends it will reverse to where they produce little to no saliva for quite a while.

She meant he will need his tongue to swallow in the future since that is what pushes food to the back of throat to enable swallowing and she was afraid if he can't use it during treatment it might cause swallowing problems. Which she is completely right! Swallowing exercises using tongue movement is highly recommended during treatment to prevent just that.