I hope I'm not making a topic that already exists. I tried to look. As people who have been reading here know, I've been struggling with swallowing problems for 2 years post treatment.

The first big issue is esophageal strictures, which keep coming back, but I also have an epiglottis worn away from radiation, some limits in my tongue movement, lymphedema on the base of my tongue, and trismus.

Right now my throat has recently been stretched open and I am strugling to do the Shaker exercise 3 times a day and swallow as much as I can. Basically, anything that isn't mushy and has some weight to it (such as little bits of sausage in a sausage gravy) will feel like it goes down but get stuck in the little pocket my epiglottis forms or in pockets above my vocal cords. Fortunately, I have not lost any sensation there and so usually I eventually feel when that happens and it gets coughed up. So maybe I can avoid aspiation pneumonia despite all this.

On top of this, I have a very sensitive (easy to start feeling pain) mouth after radiation. I can't really have anythimg acidic --even the mint in Biotene mouthwash stings my mouth pretty badly, though I use it anyway.

I know there are not many people who have it this bad unless it is right after rad, but I figure I'm probably not the only one. I thought maybe we could support each other, whereever we are.

Where I am is pushing to get off the tube, though I expect I'll be eating things with the consistency of baby food and pudding for the most part. At least I'll be able to take a bath, go swimming and canoeing in muddy rivers (all of which I used to love and which I don't do right now because of the tube).

So I'm going to share one new triumph last night which is I finally found a pasta that I can get down consistently if I put a bunch of Olive oil or butter on it. Pastina. Little tiny pasta grains. I didn't think to try it for a long time ebcause I thought it would be like rice, which is a disaster for me, but it clumps together just enough and is just mushy enough, that it goes down very easily. It is alos wodnerfully non-irritating for my poor sore mouth, unlike mashed potatoes, which is my main other starch, but which rubs against the sensitive spots in my mouth enough to irritate them.

It's much easier to get all my calories orally if I can have some pasta, it isn't all soups and protein shakes.

Nelie