Diane,
Your uncle's timing seems to be just about the same as mine. I finished treatment in February 2004, and by late April, Trismus had snuck up on me and I went from being able to insert 3 fingers between my teeth to only one. My ENT prescribed the Therabyte, which, like Gail's husband, I used ~7 times a day for a couple of months until I was back to normal. I still have it, but use it only infrequently to measure any loss of range of motion.

Just for info, in dealing with Therabite, they will only sell to someone with a prescription, and they made me pay up front for it ($400). They took care of submitting the claim to my health insurance. BCBS paid 90% of "durable medical equipment". My insurance screwed up and sent the check to Therabyte, and it took several phonecalls to get reimbursed. With all the claims out there, it easy to lose track, and this could have easily slipped through. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an honest mistake.

The device itself is very easy to use, but I'm not sure it's any more effective than the tongue depressors my former hospital roomate used.
Gail's recommendation to seek out a speech and swallowing therapist is spot on. Mine was very instrumental in the success of my recovery.

My best wishes to your uncle for his recovery, and to you for being involved.

Good Health,

Chuck