Just joined today - but diagnosed Aug 2014 and now cancer-free!

Kate,

Welcome to the club no one wants to join as Phannie usually states here. I am glad to read that you are doing well except for the thick saliva, hopefully this too will pass. Yes, be careful with your foods and make sure you chew well. I have choked a few times over the years when I don't pay attention.

My Best to You and Everyone Here

It's okay; we don't penalize tardies. Welcome to the group. We' ve traveled similar paths. I was diagnosed July 23, 2014 and like you, I'm a #5 according to Bill's analysis. I do feel pretty blessed to be just about back to normal. Hopefully you can add your experiences to help the newcomers in this battle.

hello, Kate, and welcome to the family.  we're glad you decided to talk.  i'm very excited that you are done with tx and back to living.  you are one more to show the newbies that is can and will be done.  i hope you will stick around.

God bless you,

dj

Carolinagal4 said:

Hi Kate,
it sounds like you

Hi Kate,

it sounds like you and I have a lot in common.  I am 45 and I live in Apex and I am also going through treatment at Duke--who was your surgeon?  I was diagnosed this spring with SCC of the oral tongue--non-smoker, didn't drink much, HPV negative. I just finished radiation and chemo (cisplatin) 5 weeks ago--I will have the PET-CT scan the last week of October to determine if I will need surgery or not.

So excited to hear that you made it through this and are on the other side now!

Cathy

Like Marine said- I echo what Phrannie always says. And, like Matt, I read your Profile story- just the facts, Ma'am, just the facts.

One of the causes of C not mentioned above might apply to you, but also may not. When I first met with my Chemo Dr I was asked two questions:

1) Do you smoke?

2) Are you involved in agriculture?

#2 is an often overlooked cause of C, perhaps for the greater good that allows the world to be fed, or perhaps not- the corporate farmer age would not exist without the herbicides and pesticides it uses to combat weeds and bugs that would harm crops and yields. I live in the midwest cornbelt, and my Dad managed Grain Elevators for a career. I did not take that path, but know much from him. I wonder if you, or any of your other C-positive, non-smoking relatives, live near any crop fields, or are involved in food production? Maybe not, but I'm just putting it out there that this is a leading, though seldom spoken of, cause for C.

 The area, which extends for many miles, where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico- what do they call that? They call it "The Dead Zone." The reason for this is all the agriculture chemicals which eventually get washed all the way down into the Gulf, along with other pollutants. And I remember way back in the early-70s swimming in a creek, and when I got out it was like- What the heck? My hair was weird, like stiff and nothing like regular water would make it. My Dad told me it was from what the farmers were using in the fields. Now, take it a step further, and consider what all the wild animals drink from- such as Deer drinking from creeks and streams that get field run-off. You eat much Venison? Or fish? I live just a 1-1/2 block distance from the Mississippi, and no way would I eat river fish, though they say the cooking of those fish destroys all the bad chemicals from the water in the river. Ocean fish are not subject to this, but the majority of rivers are, I'm afraid. And then there's the subject of preservatives added to the food on our friendly neighborhood grocery store shelves...

Just saying, Kate, that there are possibles beyond genetics for this to have happened to you, and those in your family for you to consider. And, by the way, CONGRATULATIONS for now being C-free.

kcass