[Ruth Cuadra]

Dena,

Congratulations on the upcoming 1st anniversary of your BMT. For my 1st anniversary, my Mom loved going to buy "Happy 1st Birthday" balloons and telling the salesperson they were for her daughter. They were, but she was 72 at the time!

I too had some oral GVHD in the first couple of years post-transplant. It made the lining of my mouth bright red and felt like I'd been burned by hot soup. I was on immunosuppressants and oral Dexamethasone at the time. But it helped to stay away from mint-flavored toothpaste; I used Tom's of Maine apricot flavor, which they unfortunately don't make anymore. My dentist recommended Closys mouth rinse, which also helped reduce the inflammation.

After about 4 years, I was off immunosuppressants and my GVHD symptoms were practically nil. Then about a year ago (at 14+ years post-BMT!), I suddenly got white patches on my tongue that looked like canker sores. Turned out to be a flareup of oral GVHD. Since then, I've been using Clobetasol gel that was prescribed by an oral GVHD specialist at City of Hope. If I stop the gel for a couple of days, the sores reappear, but it's not a difficult thing to manage.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Ruth