Cracked tongue

Hi Dee , if yiu git a little foaming that’s good news yiu must have a tiny bit of saliva around so something to work with . I still so water several times in the night  and I am 22 month post radiotherapy. While you are waiting for lockdown look online for massage techniques for encouraging saliva glands I found a few when I finished  treatment in yiu tube nothing aggtesieve just gentle downward strokes .

Keep in touch Hazel x 

Hi Hazel, thank u for replying! Yes I'll have a wee look at the massage techniques, again never knew that was possible, can't believe these pieces of vital info aren't passed on during therapy! 

Take care Hazel,

Hi Dee 

No problem ,hope it helps and the xyimelt helped last night it will improve I remember thinking in the early days will I ever have saliva again but slowly slowly the glands seem to compensate for the ones that have been fried. I am now 22 month post radiotherapy and would say during day time I have long periods where I didn’t even notice anything different sat here typing this and would say 95% normal mouth.Honestly I never thought I would say that , I can also eat a packet of crisps without water ! Big result for me I missed crisps .At night time I still use 1/2 xyimelt I ve  read somewhere that around 0400in the morning the saliva gland work slower even in normal non radiated people so maybe I have to keep using them .

good luck and hang on in yiu will get there.

Hazel x

Hello again Hazel, yes I really miss crisps and peanuts too! I tried a couple of quavers but couldn't get them swallowed plus cos I've no taste they tasted like balls of salt!

I miss pizza the most lol.

Well I got 5 and a half hours uninterrupted sleep last night so that's a first in a long time! 

Thanks again Hazel, have a bag of crisps for me lol, take care

Hi Dee you are welcome. Tonight I will dedicate each  one of them in  the 30 g packet to you.  I was aroun 15 month post treatment before I could quavers just stuckthe greasier the crisp the better French fries too dry as well. Nuts of any description not yet they roll around mouth but won’t go down. Pizza the middle bit is ok but plain only .cheese on toast or poached egg are my standby go to food. 

Good on 5 hours hope the xyimelt s helped .

onwards and upwards Hazel xx

Hi Dee

I managed pizza by 14 weeks with a little warm tea ( better than cold water) 

The trick is not to gulp water to get it down but to have the tiniest sip when you start, that sip acting instead of saliva. That way you get a bolus of food for your throat to work on. 
Pizza goes down easily now and my favourite crisps now are those vegetable ones. Try those first? They are greasier than ordinary ones and easier to swallow. 
Dry nuts I will never manage unless they are in porridge or in a cake. 
I suspect I’ll never swallow muesli without coughing so don’t bother with it. 
You’ll be surprised at how you manage once the pain has subsided. 
Taste however is a different matter. Mines all different though I do enjoy food. 
I spoke to my oncologist last week and when I explained about my taste he said that it sounded ok except not in high definition.  
Sometimes I think it would be a good thing for  our  doctors to be in ours shoes for half an hour. 

Hi Dani, yes I figured that out quite quickly about using sips of water to act as saliva, I def couldn't manage pizza yet and my treatment finished 1st Feb! All my food is still mashed up and very moist. I literally can't wait to eat pizza and fried eggs on toast and a chip buttie and honey coated peanuts!

Thankfully I'm not in pain anymore Dani, most of my discomfort is in my eyes and nose and mouth but not pain.... 

If my taste went back to how it was before the treatment (which was minimal) I'd be happy enough, I'm just thankful I don't have the acidy, peppery salty taste I had for months, that was unbearable! 

Thanks Dani!

Thanks Hazel, I really hope u enjoy them, I really like cheese n onion crisps so would be great if u had those on my behalf

I love cheese on toast too, that's another of my wishlist foods wen I'm better! 

Thanks Hazel,

Dee

just for you around 2130 I will have cheese and onion only managed one packet of those but will do one tonight . Cheese on toast was one of my early food attempts, surprisingly  nasty white sliced bread riasted is easy to get down lots of butter , leave the crusts though.

Hazel x 

Typo meant toasted !