hello again, my dad has had his trach for about a year now.. he first had it put in for chemo/rad treatments, and then he ended up having his surgery on December 7, 2010.. sometimes when he tries to cough up mucus, it is a pinkish color, maybe a sign of strain or blood.. has anyone experienced this? i spoke with his ENT today about his swelling not knowing that he had the pinkish flem.. thank you all so much, again!

concerned daughter,
nicki

I can't think of what would color phlegm pink, except trace amounts of blood, certainly something the ENT should investigate. It could be from a nosebleed that's just weeping a little in the back of the throat. It could also be part of the healing process as well, since his surgery was just last month. Could you elaborate more on the swelling?

Gary,

sometimes i think he is straining too much to get the mucus out and its irritating it.. its so hard to tell because the surgery was so big.. he had swelling of course from the surgery, about 4weeks after the surgery, the swellign went down quite a bit.. about 2 weeks ago, his face looked red and more swollen so we took him in to see the ENT.. the ENT is treating him now for an infection.. the left side of his face, which was the problem side from teh beginning went down, and the right side has not gone down as much.. of course more noticeable in the morning.. no fever, no additional pain.. thank you!
nicki