Gail, Jerry had his swallowing evaluation today, so I came back to this thread to compare notes on what they did with him compared to what happened with Barry. I wasn't there, but he described a similiar process to the one Barry had. His therapist told him that his muscles seem to be working properly and everything really looks OK. In his case, they said it is the reduced saliva that is causing the swallowing problems that he has. He actually is doing pretty well, albeit slow, with his eating. We've been going to restaurants a few times a week lately and the servers keep trying to take the poor guy's food away since he is still eating way after I'm done. I keep reading that the saliva function should continue to improve for 12 months or more after IMRT so there is still an opportunity for more improvement. He also tried several acupuncture treatments specifically for xeristomia recently. It may have helped but it didn't 'fix' it.

Connie