My husband also has the same basic problem with swallowing - food/liquid gets caught in this "gullet" (as he calls it) and he ends up coughing and choking on food quite a bit. The same goes for taking medication - sometimes he thinks the pill has gown down - but it comes back up and he has to "re-swallow" it. This all pretty much has been happening since he had the modified radical neck dissection surgery done on 2/6/03 - and has been having severe swelling on his face, throat, neck, etc. He has been seen recently by his surgeon and the radiation oncologist - and they seem to think nothing of this swelling problem - that he pretty much has to deal with it. But I am worried about this aspiration pneumonia (as it's called). Wouldn't there be any other symptoms besides a low-grade fever? How would a person know otherwise if someone has this problem?