My husband too had been diagnosed with back of tongue cancer in April, finished treatment in early June and is still on the PEG. His tumor was between the epiglottis and the vallicula, and his swallowing is very compromised. He cannot really drink Boost yet.

He has sought treatment with an ENT/swallowing specialist in Yale/New Haven, Dr. Clarence Sasaki, whose swallowing therapist recently recommended the use of electric stimulation to the swallowing muscles. Dr. Daphne Bascom at University Hospitals in Cleveland was our contact. In Cleveland, there is research being done about the use of electric stimulation to assist swallowing. It has just received FDA approval, and its benefits to stroke victims and dysphagia victims has been very good. It is not known if it radically improves head and neck cancel patients, however.

My husband will start therapy on Jan. 6, for 10 straight days. I will post the results here, if in fact it does help. Clinicians will be trained on this equipment and it should be more widely available by the end of 2003.

Also, Brian Hill, the moderator on this board, had the PEG for a long time, but now has resumed a pretty normal diet. According to our doctors, it depends on where the cancer was, how much scar tissue has developed, and if in fact fibrosis has set in as a result of the scar tissue. It seems that it is a case by case situation.

Good luck in your research.