Hi All,

My sister and her husband saw her surgeon a couple of days ago and he scoped her throat, said one of her vocal chords had not split as it is suppose to, guess this is due to the radiation. She was given the option of a tracheomy to help with the breathing, at times she feels she is suffocating. He said he didn't see cancer growth, so we are relieved. He said in time it would split on it's own, but meanwhile offered her the option. Was suppose to see her speech therapist today, but had to cancel her appt. was vomiting this morning. Have you heard about using electrical impulses to stimulate the swallowing response? I think they have done it with stroke victims, just wondering .....
The pain issue is another area we are concerned about and Tom is emailing doctor the check if increasing the fentayl patches is recommended (she is taking 2 patches at 25mg each) and still has breakthrough pain 3-4 times a day. I just hope that the tumor is dying and this is the excess tissue causing the pain, her oncologist said she will always have scar tissue around her carotid arteries.

Thank you for your concern,

Nancy