Marty Stout is not someone who does things halfway. A 21-year Air Force veteran, lifelong runner, and self-described athlete, Marty has always pushed himself. So when he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer at 47, he brought that same drive to fighting it.

What he didn't anticipate were the side effects that would follow him long after the battle was won.

A Cancer Survivor's Unexpected Challenge

After a radical neck dissection and 30 rounds of radiation, Marty was declared cancer-free. But the treatments left behind a relentless, exhausting consequence: severe dry mouth. For many cancer survivors who undergo radiation in the head and neck region, this is one of the most persistent and disruptive side effects of treatment.

"My mouth was so dry that if you had just a small amount of air getting in through your lips, your mouth just dried completely out," Marty recalls.

He wasn't someone who had ever thought of himself as a mouth breather. But radiation had disrupted the natural moisture balance in ways that made every night difficult. He was waking up constantly, unable to rest, and increasingly worried about what the dryness was doing to his teeth. (Dental health is a serious concern for radiation patients: Marty was visiting the dentist monthly just to monitor for secondary effects from his treatment.)

The one solution doctors recommended were overnight lozenges. They barely helped.

"You felt like you were going to choke on something all night. You just kept waking up. It was doing absolutely no good whatsoever."

One Recommendation Changed Everything

It was Marty's wife, Tracy, who worked at a dental office, who connected him to the answer. Her dentist, deeply invested in natural healing, told them about Simply Breathe. Marty put on a strip that very first night.

"My mouth did not dry out through the night. It was an eye-opening experience. It was amazing how much better I slept."

He has worn one every night since.

What struck Marty most wasn't just the relief, it was the simplicity. No machines, no prescriptions, no complicated routines. Just a small strip that gently kept his lips together and let his nose do what it was designed to do.

"It's not a machine that you have to use. It was such a low cost, high upside to me as the patient. And I get what you're saying about there being no money in the cure. That's a good thing for the consumer."

Shouting It From the Mountaintops

Marty doesn't keep good things to himself. At every follow-up appointment, every check-in with his care team at Washington University and BJC in St. Louis, the question always comes: what would you share with others going through this?

His answer is always the same.

"My absolute biggest thing that I've shared with anyone: get mouth tape. Get Simply Breathe mouth tape immediately. It makes all the difference in the world. It really, really does."

His nurse practitioner has already started recommending it to her own patients. His wife's new dental office is eager to carry samples. And Marty is actively working to connect Simply Breathe with the oncology teams who treated him, because he knows from experience how many patients are suffering through the same sleepless nights he once endured.

"I tell everybody that'll listen about it. I really yell it from the mountaintops."

A Simple Thing That Changes Everything

Marty's story is a reminder that the most powerful solutions are often the most straightforward. He went through one of the hardest experiences a person can face, and on the other side of it, a small piece of tape became one of the most meaningful tools in his recovery.

What makes Simply Breathe the right choice isn't just what it does, it's what it's made of. Simply Breathe strips are crafted from premium, hypoallergenic medical-grade materials, the same standard of quality used in clinical settings. That matters enormously for someone like Marty, whose skin and tissues were already sensitized from radiation. It also sets Simply Breathe apart from generic tapes and drugstore alternatives that can irritate, pull, or fail overnight. When you're relying on something every single night, the materials aren't a minor detail. They're everything.

"Nothing else has been that powerful, that instant. Single-handedly, the best thing for your sleep. It makes all the difference in the world and how you perform."

Five years out from his diagnosis, Marty is clear, active, and determined to make sure anyone who needs this finds it.

About the author

Lisa Seaman is the co-founder of Simply Breathe and a certified breathing educator (Oxygen Advantage, Buteyko Clinic Method). She helps people build simple, sustainable nasal breathing habits for better sleep, energy, and recovery. Read more about Lisa →