After having radiotherapy for 6 weeks she still cannot eat properly yet so she is still being tube fed but even though its been a bad few months she is now starting to go out by herself and doing really well recovering from the treatment, we don't know the results yet as to how well the treatment has worked but we're initially told it's a 50/50 chance of getting rid of the very large tumour,her main struggle at the moment is lack of saliva it's really getting her down ,any suggestions to combat this please ,thanks in advance
Hi and welcome.
Well done your mum. Getting out and about is food for the soul after weeks of darkness. Giver her a hug from me.
I am another fan of Xylimelts which are a little xylitol lozenge that sticks to your gum and slowly releases its ingredients to help keep the mouth moist. I use one at night but they can be used in the day too. Xylitol chewing gum is great for getting the salivary glands that survive working properly. Mint may be too strong for your mum but there are other flavours available. PUR make fruit and cinnamon flavours. Drinking lots is recommended which I did but I found using a water spray much better as it didn't wash any saliva away, just helped it along. Just as Blod did I found an acupuncture practitioner who knew how to apply auricular acupuncture. This really helped me along. I have details in my blog HERE and Here The second link has some interesting comments. If you email the Swallows Head and Neck Support charity they will send you a support box free which contains any number of mouth products Chris@theswallows.org.uk
Best wishes
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
