Hi Christine,

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I also appreciate all the info on the gastric feeding tube. When I told my oncologist that I was 40 lb. overweight and was trying to lose it, he said, "No, no! You're going to lose 10% of your body weight without even trying, just because of the treatment."

I also agreed to participate in a swallowing study. Should I be accepted into the trial, I will either be placed in a "proactive" group or a "reactive" group. The hospital wants to determine whether speech/swallowing therapy is more effective if started before radiation (proactive) or after swallowing has already become difficult (reactive).

Marjatta