My husband has squamous cell carcinoma of his left tonsil and just recently completed 43 IMRT treatments and 8 chemo treatments (1 each week) consisting of carboplatin and Taxol. From everything we've read, we were prepared for him to experience the dry mouth. Instead, he has the exact opposite...profuse and nonstop secretions coming from the salivary glands in the back of his throat. This started after the first couple weeks of radiation treatment and have boggled the minds of everyone on his treatment team. Nothing, and absolutely nothing, has helped decrease the secretions. They are so bad that he cannot talk (he'll drool), can only sleep almost an hour before having to wake up and clear (blow) the secretions from his mouth, and certainly can't eat. Thank God we agreed to the feeding tube, because it's saved his life. If he swallows his secretions, because they are so profuse, he'll gag and vomit.
Has anyone ever experienced this particular side effect? IF so, did anything help it? And, how long before it went away...and what were your experiences with it posttreatment. For example, the docs suspect that the opposite will occur, that he'll develop the dry mouth, but it's hard to believe with the amount he's producing right now. He'd actually welcome the dry mouth at this point. The benefits (yes, we've come up with some) include the fact that the secretions constantly coat his mouth and all the sores in there. He would be in so much pain if it wasn't for that. Also, the secretions are coating his teeth, so even though he started out with flouride trays 3x a day and brushing with flouride the same, he has been instructed to only brush, as the dentist said his mouth is naturally being cleansed.
Unfortunately, there is an awful smell that is emitted, whether it be from the sores in his mouth or the secretions (considering what radiation does to the body), but it's nasty and I'm looking forward to when that goes away. Even if someone out there hasn't experienced the secretions, has anyone had the bad smell and how long did it take to go away?
Thank you for listening and I hope to hear from someone soon. We continue to be positive and are waiting another 4-5 weeks to get the PET done to determine if he'll need a radical neck dissection in October, which the surgeon at Dana Farber wants to do if he sees anything "gray" on the scan. This is a great forum and I look forward to reading your replies.
God bless.
- Lynn