Hi All - I have a question regarding swallowing after the surgery. background info: my husband (age 39) has SCC Stage IV (T2N2M0). Was consulted to have surgery done with no chemo/radio afterwards. He will be fed through a G2 Tube after the surgery for about a couple of days in the hospital.

Questions:
1) hubby has strong allergy symptoms in his nose. Every morning, he spends a couple of minutes clearing up his nasal cavities. Sometimes, he needs to spit out phlegm. If he has a tube, will the phlegm clogged up his throat, and choke him? is there a way to clear his throat when he has the G2 Tube?

2) what happens after he comes home and there's no tube, if he cannot swallow, and his nose has allergy, it would be hard for him to breathe. does anybody have this kind of problem? And what suggestions?

Many thanks in advance!!

Ching, please explain what a G2 tube is. Im familiar with a gastro tube (peg tube or sometimes called a g tube) and a J/G tube (jejunal/gastric tube) and the nasal tube. Havent heard of a G2 tube, maybe its different wording for Canadian hospitals???

If its a regular gtube that is inserted directly into his stomach. In that case, it will not affect anything with his throat or sinuses. The nasal tube goes thru his nose into his stomach. Davidcpa had that type of tube so hope he will be answering this post to help guide you.

The second part is what you should ask your husbands doctor. I cant answer 'what if' since I am not a medical professional. Im sorry. I am only a former patient who is very familiar with j/g and peg feeding tubes and how to help with those.

Hi Ching

I had an NG tube in for a few weeks after my surgery and like your husband suffer from hayfever. I used a nasal spray specific to hayfever that helps dry up secretions and I found it very helpful. If the G2 tube you are referring to is the same as and NG tube, it goes in through the nose and will not interfere with clearing his throat, spitting, or swallowing. I ate normal foods soon after the tube was removed and had no trouble swallowing.

I wish your husband all the very best and pray that he has a quick recovery.

Liza

I have terrible sinuses but have never choked on the thick gunk in the throat. Sometimes it is even hard to cough it up. Then I try to wash it down with hot coffee. Sometinmes it works and other times no way.

The gunky "ropes" of phlegm were pretty bad after my dad had surgery and radiation. Lots of saliva. It seems to have calmed 8 months out and he uses a humidifier for dryness but still has excess saliva. It never interfered with the peg tube.