Hi Kandi,

It would be in your Father's best interest to see a SLP for a swallow study.

I'm 16 weeks post Tx and while I can eat most things, I'm still healing and my swallowing is not back to normal yet.

I still have swelling in my throat and tongue and it's possible that's going on with your Father too. I can't begin to imagine why the taste changes so dramatically.

I have the same issue of food and pills feeling like they're getting caught in the back of my throat. My SLP showed me on the scope that we have a naturally occurring pocket just below the epiglottis. Normally, our swallowing mechanisms help to push food right past that. In my case and in others, due to the damage of radiation, our swallow functions are weakened or compromised. While everything is working enough to prevent aspiration, it's not totally back up to speed.

If he's not doing swallow exercises, he should be! I posted a list of exercises given to me from my SLP at Johns Hopkins. You can find it HERE

We're all different in the rate we heal and return to what would be considered normal.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"


57
Cardiac bypass 11/07
Cardiac stents 10/2012
Dx'd 11/30/2012 Tx N2b MO Stage IV HPV+
Palatine Tonsillectomy/Biopsies 12-21-12
Selective Neck Dissection/Lingual Tonsillectomy/biopsies TORS 2/7/13
Emergency Surgery/Bleeding 2/18/13
3/13/2013 30rads/6chemo
Finished Tx 4/24/13
NED Since