Hi Les,

Many oral cancer patients who go through radiation have difficulty eating and swallowing towards the end of the radiation treatment and during the first part of the recovery period after the radiation. Many do eventually get back their swallowing ability. My husband had to have a feeding tube because his esophagus was closed by scarring. But he had a lot of radiation and his cancer was in the throat.

What you might like to do now is to continue doing the swallowing exercises that the hospital has given you diligently. Swallowing muscles, if not used, can become atrophied. Can you speak to your doctor about the swallowing problems you’re having and ask to be given a swallowing assessment? That’s usually done by a speech and language pathologist.

It seems like there’s not been a clear explanation for why you needed radiation. Again, you really need to ask your doctors directly. Does your family physician get copies of your medical report from the hospital? If it’s too much for you to travel to Brisbane, maybe a chat with your own family doctor can clarify things for you.