Hi gmcraft!

Thank you for your reply. He had the test yesterday. The doctor is worried about aspiration so he is off the water for now. He will be discharged today with a nasogastric tube. I do hope a thicker liquid like cream soup you mentioned will do the trick.

Before his surgery my husband had had many months of difficulty swallowing and on several occasions had made him almost choke. Now post-surgery every time he tries to swallow the water or the melted ice, he gets panicked and just coughs it out. But he has no problem, aside from the feel of swollen discomfort, to swallow his own saliva. However, since he started the Mendelsohn Maneuver and he does this exercise before placing an ice in his mouth, he's able to keep it down a lot better.