I was wondering if anyone has experienced the following problem. My father was diagnosed in February with oral cavity, buccal mucosa, left SCC, in situ and at least superficially invasive in his left jaw bone. He had his left mandible removed and replace with a bone in his leg. He had all his lymph nodes removed. Two lymph nodes were affected. He had six week of radiation that finished in June of this year.

My father still has a peg tube and as of this date has not been able to pass a swallowing test. He has not been able to have a drink of even water since February 1, 2007. Needless to say he is dying of thirst.

My question for the forum is my father is still experiencing massive amounts of phlem and his tongue is swollen about 3 times the size of what it should be. His tongue has been like that since the day of the surgery. His doctors give us no reason for the swelling other than this is what happens with this type of surgery.

Has this happend to anyone else?? Do you have any ideas how to make him more comfortable?

Thanks.

I am 34 and had half my tongue removed 2 weeks ago i start radiaton after christmas ...my md told me to be prepared for swelling and swallowing problems for the next year. i will have to have a peg placed in jan. i am still learning too...i am currently gathering as much info as possible...and will post anything helpful. if any change please post back.

Learning...I'm sorry that I see no responses to your questions. I can't imagine how I missed your original post of Nov. 6...this post will 'bump' the subject, and hopefully you will receive some individual responses from those who have experienced your father's symptoms...

Lois & Buzz in NC

This probably does not apply in your father's case, but my son had a very bad reaction to medication after starting the Radiation treatments which caused his tongue to swell up and he had to go to the emergency room. They gave him Benadryl shots to counterract the swelling. Your father's surgery seems to be quite different from that of my son's and I only mention this as something to pehaps rule out and ask your doctor about in the event that medication could be contributing to the swelling.

This was the same for my mother, she finished radiotherapy April 07, about 4 weeks ago her tounge became swollen along with her lips, looked like she had a plum in her mouth. I contacted the consultant by phone, he rang her GP who did a home visit. She has been taking steriods for the last 10 days and after about 4 days there was a noticable diffrence in the toiunge. It is not back to normal and may never be, but it is better and easier to understand what she is saying.