Hi everyone,
I haven't posted here in quite awhile. My husband finished his chemo/radiation for tonsil cancer in December, and has been recuperating since then. Although it is slow, he IS progressing. At one point he could barely swallow a half cup of tea; now he can down most of his calorie requirement with milkshakes and soups, and his strength is coming back as well. Next Tuesday he's scheduled for a selective neck dissection with nodes removed through level four. Will this slow his progress as far as swallowing/starting to eat? Is there much pain or swelling involved? He is just starting to look forward to being able to have his peg tube removed, and I hate to see his progress hurt too much. On a happy note, his pet/ct scans last month were all clear!

Sherry, good to hear from you again. I had the exact same treatment as Ken except I had five nodes removed totalling approximately 35 glands. I didn't have any eating/swallowing issues from the surgery. In fact, the surgery was nothing compared to the rad and I was home within 14 hours of the surgery. There is some pain and swelling, but it is easily taken care of with meds. The drain tubes were removed within 5 days as I recall and it was no big deal. Neither was the removal of all of those staples. It was a real non-event for me. Looking back, I'm glad I still had the peg as it was easier taking the meds than trying to swallow them at that point, so having the surgery soon after treatment was a good thing. Congrats on the scan results. Isn't "no cancer" a very pleasant sound? I floated out of the hospital that morning. God bless.

I also had a selective neck dissection --about 24 glands--though I had it done first along with the partial glossectomy, before radiation (I still have that nasty part ahead of me). The neck by itself wasn't a big deal at all, a little pain and swelling as Kirk said and you have to deal with the drain tube for a few days (I had mine removed 3 days after surgery) and the staples for a few days more. It was the tongue surgery, not the neck surgery, that gave me problems eating.

Thanks for your replies. I always appreciate hearing from you, Kirk, because your cancer and treatment seems exactly the same as Ken's. How are you doing with swallowing and eating? He can down a milkshake pretty quickly with no problems, but struggles with solids, since his tongue and throat are still swollen. He finished radiation 3 1/2 months ago.

Sherry, I have few problems with eating anything. Steak, fish, pork, chicken (dark meat, white is too dry), hamburgers (McD double cheeseburger), chips, whatever. I started with very soft foods like poached eggs, then on moist (with butter) slightly toasted bread, then on corned beef hash, and other soft foods. Then on to the normal stuff. My wife went crazy for a while cooking up all types of foods. When I couldn't eat it, my daughter finished it up for me. So at least we didn't have any waste. Ken will be able to do this soon, I would think, as he should be getting to that point.

My peg was removed about 5 months after rad/chemo and I had to be eating by mouth for 2 weeks before they would take it out. During that 2 weeks, the only thing I used the peg for was for water to keep it open and I took meds through it because I got bored with just water. I could take all of my meds (Tylenol, Nexium for my reflux, vitamins, etc.) by mouth, but used the peg for variety.

Ken might need to force things a little, just to get the swallowing thing started again, that's why I liked poached eggs so much. I had (and still have) problems with scrambled eggs because they are so dry, so I stuck to poached, soft-boiled, anything that maintained some moisture. Unfortunately, that dry mouth issue will always be with me, I think, though it is kind of getting better, I think. Not by much though.

As to the eating, it is a slow process, but eventually Ken will get it all back. I lost my taste, so eating is more of a chore than it used to be as there is very little taste and it was hard at first to eat as the appetite wasn't as good as it used to be, but that comes back as well and I eat now because I feel hungry, not just because I know I should to get the proper nutrition. Hope this helps. God bless.