In March of 2006 my husband began treatment for cancer of the larynx. He had radiation and chemo (Cisplatin)and finished treatment early July. The good news is the tumor which was wrapped around his left vocal chord is gone, but he had to have a feeding tube inserted early in the treatment process since he was unable to swallow or eat. It has been 6 months since treatments ended, but he still cannot swallow anything but a few sips of water. He says the hardest part of it all is that he has so much mucus he has to expectorate all day long. In all my research I cannot find any mention of this problem in other patients. His doctors just say it takes time and they are not sure why he has this problem. He took Amophistine (Ethyol) half-way through radiation to salvage his salivary glands, but had to stop because he became allergic to the injections. We assume the injections helped to save some of the salivary glands from being destroyed, but the Radiologist is not even sure why my husband has the problem with the persistent muscus building up. Has anyone experienced this problem. It would be most encouraging for my husband to know he is not alone.

My DH also has lots of mucus(also spelled mucous for search purposes), and if you do a search here I think you will find lots of posts dealing with the mucous issue. If it is severe, you can have your doc write a prescription for a portable suction machine to use at home. most insurance will cover part or all of the rental. That was such a blessing for the first 6 months. My DH is off the machine now, but heavy mucous continues to be a problem, but it has gotten a bit better where he doesn't need the machine, but he has to clear his throat all the time and actually reach in with a kleenex to get the heavy stuff out(gross, I know). Some patients get some relief with medications like Mucinex or Tussin that helps thin mucus. My DH has a J-tube for feeding(still can't swallow either) and those medications made him queazy so he doesn't want to try them again, but many here swear by them. Your DH is by far not alone.

Jck,

Did anyone tell you to try salt/baking soda and warm water. It will help rise the heavy mucus out of mouth. I used this when I was in treatment. Some people used bottled club soda, room temperature.

Swallowing takes time. Keep trying everyday to swallow even a sip every hour. It is important for the muscles and to keep the throat open.

Hope this will help.
Take care
Diane

Dear JCK, my husband is another who is fighting the copious mucous[he refers to it a slime]. He has had 3 surgeries and rad and chemo. His Doc tells him that his salivary glands are totally screwed up from the "insults" of all these treatments to his tissues. We have been dealing with this for a year [I hate to tell you that] and nothing has helped. This problem has become the most debilitating part of his daily life. He uses a suction machine constantly [and is miserable when he is away from home for more than an hour] He has gotten some immediate relief from swishing\spitting strong tea, coke or Sprite. He also uses the baking soda gargle [doesn't help much] We tried the prescription med Robinal [but it dried his throat out too much. He also will use Musinex [OTC]We are totally frustrated that we can't find something to eliminate this side effect. Sadly, you are not along. Amy

Hi JCK and welcome;
I agree with Diane's advice above. My Ro also suggested the Baking Soda and salt (1 tbsp. each) to a gallon of water after the mucous got so thick and the sores wouldn't allow me to use "Miles Mixture". The thing was, at that point I couldn't handle anything in my mouth. Once I was post treatment about 2 weeks, even though I was barely swallowing, I started using this mix and now I keep it handy all of the time. When everything else "burnt" my mouth or didn't help at all this seemed to help keep the thicker stuff rinsed out. I also elevate my head and use a humidifier at night. Some say it doesn't help them but it seems to help me a little.

As far as the swallowing goes, keep exercising, stretching, and working your throat and jaw muscles. My Dr.'s, and several on this site as well were constantly stating this. Also, he should work on positioning things (even sips of water) to find the best route to guide things down his throat. I think this in itself helped me tremendously with getting back to starting to eat again. Several folks have shared the positive benefits of a speech therapist to aid in swallowing, drinking, and eating which I am going to speak with my ENT about next week.

Keep experimenting and Pushing. When it comes to this subject every little success is a big victory.

Steve

Thank you to all of you who responded regarding the mucous problem my husband is having. I so appreciate your quick replies, and although I can't say there is much encouragement at least he will know he is not alone in fighting this problem. He was using the baking soda mixture but seeing not improvement over a month's time, he stopped. He has had a swallow video done so there would be a benchmark he could work from in using his esophogus muscles, and he is going back for the second video next week. The first video revealed his epiglottis was not working, so he aspirates each time he swallows. He puts his chin to his chest each time he swallows because the therapist told him he would be least likely to aspirate using that method. He will also re-visit the speech therapist next week. He has has exercises to do to strengthen the back of his tongue, which will help strengthen the muscles that allow him to swallow. We will try the humidifier to see if that helps him with the mucus, so thanks for that suggestion. I'll let everyone know what we find out after the swallow video.