Your husband still has about another year of recovering before I would rule out being able to eat again.

I can sympathize with what you and your husband go thru. Every day I face the same battle. My eating is severely limited as well. I use a feeding tube every night to help to balance my nutrition and eat 4 to 6 smooth peach yogurt every single day. There are only a few other things I can manage to eat like cheesecake, chicken soup broth, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and applesauce. I will choke on any piece of food I attempt that is the size of a grain of cooked rice.

On the down side, I have known 2 OC patients who were unable to eat anything at all, not even a sip of water. Both patients lives full and happy lives. My friend continues to work and go about doing everything anyone else does even going out to eat. She will discretely do a feeding while everyone is eating their food. She enjoys being with the people she is with and makes the most out of every day. My other friend would do the same thing. Sadly he passed away earlier this year. His screen name here was Charm. If you read his posts, he was a much loved OCF member. By knowing these 2 people and seeing how they overcame their shortcomings, I can honestly tell you that it is possible to have a great life even if unable to eat like everyone else does.

I hope your husband will make some improvements and relearn how to eat again without aspirating. Maybe a Speech pathologist could help work with him, or possibly a physical therapist. You may have to do quite alot of looking to find someone experienced with oral cancer patients and familiar with this situation. Not all professionals will be able to help but I bet there is someone out there who can.

Best wishes!