Hi Suzy,
My husband was diagnosed with tonsil cancer almost 8 years ago. He had radical neck dissection and then chemo and radiation. He had very rigid neck tissue, mostly from the radiation. Most of the rigidness has eased, but he has no feeling on the portions of his neck that received the most radiation (side the lymph node metastasis was on).

As for swallowing, I don't remember him ever complaining of the closed throat feeling you describe - but will say that swallowing remains his biggest lasting issue. As you mentioned, fluids can be the worst. He seems to cough after every sip of many liquids. He thought it was the giant hole in his throat left after removal of both tonsils and surrounding tissue. But he talked to his treating ENT at a office exam a month ago and doctor said that it is the destruction of the swallowing muscles as a result of radiation.

All of these issues have gotten better with time. We thought, at one point, that he would never again eat a piece of bread. These days, he enjoys baking our bread (and then proceeding to eat half the loaf when it comes out of the oven).

I don't expect that any of this post helps you that much with your particular set of issues, but mostly just want to let you know that things do tend to get better with time.

Best,
Anita