For you folks with Trismus problems (my problems were no where near what you guys have), I was sent to a marvelous physical therapist near Princton, N.J. (specializes in head and neck problems) who did intra and extra oral massage on my face and neck after I had the both neck dissections. He also was/is running a research project on trismus out of Hospital at U of Pa in Phila. If any of you are in this area, I will give you his name. If you can't find a PT in your area who does this, I am also willing to contact him to see if he knows anyone in your area.

As for IV's, I have my own horror stories. The guys who ran the Pet scans and CT scans were fine. But the ones in OR couldn't find a vein if their life depended on it. As I'm lying on the table with this idiot fishing for a vein, I am staring up at the ceiling of the operating room which looked like someone had just completed a massive abdominal surgery and had been winging the organs off the ceiling. Looked like the site of mass murder. When I asked about it, the idiot told me that the walls are washed and most people don't look at the ceiling. I replied that most people don't need to lie there for ten minutes while someone tries to run an IV. Needless to say the ceiling was pointed out to my surgeon who had a conniption fit and had it promptly cleaned after my surgery. He still laughs about it.