Well Happy New Years to all!,

I have only been lurking around the forum these last few months and I am glas to see my old friends, and glad to see so many doing well. I am about 2.4 years post tx and all in all doing pretty good. But I have got to share with you my new years beef. I still cough almost every meal and so much food ends up in my nose. Such a pain in the $%^#$! I know it pales with the real problems that some of our brothers and sisters have but on the 1st day of this new year I just feel like ranting while I blow steak and brocolli out of my nose!

Best wishes for all of you for this next year! I will hope to see all the same names in 2013!

Steve

Glad to see you back, Steve! and it's wonderful that you are doing so well - - except for the broccoli and steak thing . Wish I could offer a solution, but maybe someone else will come along with some good ideas. All I know (5 yrs from end of son's Tx) is that it took my son a long time before he was able to manage certain kinds of food. He still does not eat stuff in small pieces - like corn kernels that come in some corn muffin recipe and he does drink a lot of water or other liquids with each meal. Best wishes for you, too in the New Year - and hopes for some lessening of the B and S prob.

Hi try dashing your food down with water.. And time your breathing - I do it ocassionally as well - but no steak!!! congrats on the Ned!

I think what is happening is that you are trying to "force" the food down your throat instead of opening your throat and letting it go there on its own. I suspect what you are eating is far too dry to comfortably find its way to your throat.

In addition, keep a BOTTLE of water with you, and after you have chewed and the food is lazily making its way down your throat, take a good belt of water. Relax your throat muscles, make sure your food has enough moisture, and follow with water. Please note there is a huge difference (for me anyway) between drinking water from a bottle vs from a glass. When I drink from a glass the water just kind of hangs around my mouth, but drinking from a bottle actually delivers the water to the exact right spot. Give it a try.

Good luck.

Donna

(And yes, what you describe is a "survivor problem" , it is still a problem worthy of attention!!)

Thanks! I am still trying to break the old habit of eating like a rabid dog! my new mantra...
eat slow, small bites...eat slow, small bires...ommmmmmm

Sawami steve

Steve, glad to see you back here but sorry about the nostril nukes. Do you think maybe your esophagus is narrowed? I had a lot of trouble with that and have like many here been dilated repeatedly, including a few weeks ago. Might be something to bring up next time you speak to one of your docs.

All the other suggestions seem logical to me!

I wish Ron would drink water with his meals it would make his food go down so much better, but he just won't do it...AND yesterday he actually ate some Prime Rib I cut up really fine. He is really eating alot of stuff he never could eat from his first surgery!! I was so happy when he was eating the prime rib I was cheering him on that he laughed...not a good idea. He always has that "last" bite of food that he can never get down and he coughs it out(he always apologizes for that I tell him no big deal)and I tell him drink some water, but never does. And he does this with no teeth too! I think it's great. I got to ask him if he gets anything up his nostrils, I've never seen it but maybe that's what's making him choke or something. another person post with an issue ends up yet helping another!
thanks

OK, so I have tried to eat SLOWER, small bites and it does seem to help. The water (or beer) in a bottle is a good trick too.
It is tough to break the habbit of wolfing down food.
Still adjusting to the new normal after 2.5 years!!!

Thanks for the help

Steve

Hey Steve - glad to hear you're doing so well! I (of course) am going to recommend you see a Speech Pathologist for assessment. When food enters the nasal cavity it's usually because the palate (roof of the mouth) is weak and isn't moving up to create a barrier between the nasal and oral cavities. The palate is a muscle so there are exercies that can be prescribed to improve this - smaller bites and fluid washes will help compensate for the weakness - but since you're an athlete - you might want to see if you can improve things with exercise!
Take good care!

Hi Jen, yes, good I idea. I did go to one early on and she gave me a couple of exercises to do, Honestly, I have just gotten lazy over the last 1/2 year, maybe even worn out.
But...that is no excuse, back to the exercise.
She had me suck a straw and hold a 8 x 10 sheet of paper up with it, harder than one might think!

Steve