Hi, Everyone,
I haven't updated for awhile, so thought that I would let you know what has been happening with me. I had 11+ hour surgery on April 9, 2014 which included removal of the base of my tongue, my epiglottis, and a neck dissection. They were able to save my vocal chords, so I have been working with a speech therapist, and while I am sometimes difficult to understand, I am speaking with the aid of a Passey-Muir valve. I am totally tubefed and have a permanent trach. I have also been doing some "dry" swallowing exercises. Apparently the next step would be a swallow study. I saw my surgeon yesterday (2/27) and he scoped me and everything looks good. I had a PET scan in November and that looked good, too. Has anyone here had a swallow study, and how did it go?

Female, nonsmoker, 70, diag. 5/09 after tongue biopsy: stage IV. Left hemi-gloss. and left selec. neck disec. 30 lymph nodes removed May 20. Over 7 weeks daily rads. with three chemo. PEG removed 12/4/09 Am eating mostly soft foods. Back to work 11/09 Retired 4/1/11. 7 clear scans! Port out 9/11. 2/13. It's back: base of tongue, very invasive
surgery involving lifestyle changes. 2/14: Now speaking w/Passey-Muir valve. Considering a swallow study. Grateful to be alive.