 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 624 | Shawna --
The OCF web site cites a paper that concludes that the tongue depressor technique or the finger stretch method of dealing with trismus are pretty ineffective (go to "Trismus" page) . The Thera-bite system seems to work better and Brian posted on another forum topic explaining why the OCF site links to this company --
Medicare pays for (most of) it and so do many private insurances -- you just need your doc to sign medical necessity form and you fax to them.
Barry got it after talking to another Hopkins patient who did the tongue depressors and still can only open mouth 21 mm. It seems pretty easy to use -- will post to forum if it works...
Gail
CG to husband Barry, dx. 7/21/05, age 66, SCC rgt. tonsil, BOT, 2 nodes (stg. IV), HPV+, tonsillectomy, 7x carboplatin, 35x tomoTherapy IMRT w/ Ethyol @ Johns Hopkins, thru treatment 9/28/05, HPV vaccine trial 12/06-present. Looking good!
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