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Throat Radiation After-Effects, Aspiration & Suffocating Mucous
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Nov 11 10:40am | Replies (70)Comment receiving replies
I do hope your decision to bypass radiation therapy has worked out for you. Radiation therapy effects everyone differently. In my case the side effects weren't all that bad. After a year I am still recovering my taste buds, but they are coming around. Thick saliva is definitely my biggest problem but it is manageable. The only other thing I have trouble with is a runny nose. My saliva is thick but my sinus drainage is as thin as water and run 24/7. I consider myself very lucky to be in the position I'm in. I do have doctors and care givers that seem to care and that is a blessing. I wish you the best and hope you are doing well in you battle.
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Hello @bxw3 and welcome to our little group.
You mentioned a runny nose as a side effect of your radiation treatments. This seems more common than one would think. I had two doctors look into this separately and they came to the same conclusion: it’s a reroute of a salivary gland or two. For me, only after a surgery for mandible replacement was mine corrected, more by chance than by plan. I no longer have to wipe my nose when I eat and I now have a much improved saliva flow for eating.
Of course knowing this doesn’t feed the bulldog but at least it is a plausible explanation.
Side note: I actually know someone with similar cancer treatment who has a saliva reroute out the side of her neck.
I guess if we didn’t laugh about this we would run screaming into the night.