Steve,
Glad to hear you're making good progress. Who'd have thought that eating would ever be as daunting as it is post TX?

Like you I had severe limitation opening my mouth. I could barely force the tip of my finger between my teeth.

A good bit of my problem was surgically related since I had 50% of my mandible removed and reconstructed with titanium and fibula. There was a degree of muscle mass lost as well during the tumor removal and rebilding the inside of my mouth.

I asked my dental oncologist about the therabite and he said that while there was potential benefit to using it, patient compliance was a bit of an issue. It's like the stationary bikes we all have in our garage; they really help, all you have to do is use it ;^)

They are expensive, so you really have to be dedicated to making use of it.

I have a relative who is a theraputic massage therapist, and he spent about 45 minutes massaging the jaw hinge, my neck and my shoulder. End result was over 100% improvement in my ability to open my mouth, and with additional treatments it's continued to improve.

I have just started seeing a speech therapist as well, and I think it's a great "next step".

I notice that my speech clarity suffers under very specific circumstances, and the therpaist is confident we can develop coping techniques to eliminate the problem.

Wayne