I am 15 years cancer free of salivary gland cancer. I underwent surgery to remove my parotid gland and neck dissection. I then had Proton Therapy radiation, but no chemo. After radiation my mouth would not heal. I tried acupuncture. Did not help. I went through hyperbaric chamber therapy and it did help a lot, but not completely. I have lost 5 teeth and 3 more are in trouble. I have some sores in my mouth and one major one on my tongue. There is concern that my radiation damaged tongue will become cancerous. I have trouble swallowing as food gets stuck in the back of my throat and no amount of drinking a liquid will dislodge the food. I have to hack it up like a furball. One day I may not be successful. I had testing for this but no real constructive directions on how to alleviate this other than chew longer. My speech is affected because of the loss of teeth and sore tongue as well as the inability to fully extend my tongue. I also experienced on 4 occasions the loss of control of my tongue so I sounded like I was experiencing a stroke. I was not. All of this is attributed to radiation damage. It is an ongoing adventure with no idea of what is next instore. There is always necrosis of the jaw as a possibility. Very depressing.