Tami,
My last radiation treatment was in mid may. I still can not eat regular food. I can eat scrambled eggs and some soups but they still me make cough and gag but it is getting better. I have been off the peg now for about 3 weeks now. (I just need to get it removed shortly) just before I stopped using the peg my ENT had me see a swallowing/speach specialist who did a video of my throat with me saying "E".

She showed me where my throat was still swollen and red from the radiation and it would get better with time. She wanted me to swallow, swallow, swallow to help build up the muscles in my throat. She said that it would get better with time. It has been a tough road but it does get better with time. Some get better faster.

From reading some people's stories on how burnt their skin got on the outside of their necks and mine was minor. I think the inside of my mouth and throat got the worst of it and it is just taking time. I tried eating regular food that was not very soft and ended up twice back on the feeding tube. I am taking it slow this time. I drink my nutrients plus try to eat something soft every day.

It is weird that you mention about your mom's blood pressure. When I had to go get the paperwork done for me to have the neck dissection plus when I was in the hospital and they were checking my vitals afterward they checked both arms because they thought they were getting a bad reading but it wasn't it was just low. I asked if this was okay and they said that it was better to be low than high.

I hope this helps with some of your concerns.

My diagnosis came because my lymph nodes were swollen and after an ultrasound and mri they saw the tumor in my tongue. My ENT biopsied the tongue to be sure of what it was and it came back positive for cancer. He told me that I could have surgery first which would also require more reconstructive surgeries plus therapy and then radiation and chemo or do the radiation and chemotherapy first and then do surgery.

I decided to to the radiation and chemo first. My lymph nodes also shrunk but my ENT felt more comfortable to remove all the lymph nodes in my neck to be sure we did all that we could. He explained that he could not tell if my lymph nodes had cancer unless he biopsied them and to do that was to remove them. He felt that I needed to remove both sides since both sides were swollen.

I found out my results last friday and the biopsy of my tongue and nodes came out negative! I can breath a sigh of relief. I am still recovering slowly but I am getting better. I lost over 60 lbs and feel weak at times.
I have returned to work and I feel that this helps me build my strength up. By the end of the week I am very tired. I rest and go on.

If I had to do it again I would to know that I did all that I could to prevent this disease from taking over. I have a lot of work still left to do on this earth and this helped give me the strength.

I hope this helps.
Love
Terry