Hi everybody,

I have been on and off this website since being diagnosed last July 4 with stage IV tonsil cancer and have to thank everybody for all the great tips and information. It has been extremely helpful and I have been able to pass that information onto others.

I completed my radiation/chemo in Novemeber and had Modified Radical Neck Surgery this past May. According to my doctor, I am healing very nicely. I still wake up mornings swollen and spend the day stretching and massaging the throat and surgery area. Before the surgery the swelling wou dgo down in an hour or so, now it takes most of the day for the swelling to go down , and smetimes it doesn't. Doctor says this is normal, but sometimes I wonder.

Also, and this is the real reason for this blog is that I am having trouble swallowing due to very heavy and thick mucus. I rinse with warm and salt water and it helps for a while. The problem that exists is that I seem to be aspirating the mucus and for the last month or 2 have had to deal with pluerisy/walking pnuemonia, tht keeps coming back. Ive been on and off antibiotics and it helps for awhile but then I end up feeling that heaviness in the chest again. Ive tried both the robitussn and musinex but it doesnt seem to help me bring up the mucus. Has anyone out there had the same problems? Does anyone have any ideas as to what else I can do?

Thanks again, in advance for all your ideas and support.

Fred

Fred, Can you feel it when you are aspirating the mucous or are you just aware that it is happening because of the pneumonia? You should probably see about getting a FEES (Or FEEST? Not quit sure) test which is a type of swallowing test that can tell whether you have lost sensory function in your throat so that you aspirate without being aware of it.

Also, when I seemed to have more and more problems with mucous, it was actually because IO had p[roblems with swallowing in general due to an esophageal stricture which I was unaware of that was getting narrower and narrower. It wasn't really that the mucous was getting worse just that I could not swallow it at all! How is your swallowing otherwise? Are you eating OK? Or are you having other swallowing issues?

Nelie

Nelie,

Thanks for your response. I am unaware of the aspiration of the mucus. I just cant seem to get rid of this pnuemonia. I have no other symptoms of the pnuemonia, just the heaviness in the chest and discomfort, no temperature or expectorations of brown or dirty mucus.

I am eating ok, but now that you mention it, do have some trouble swallowing sometimes. I guess ill have to call the surgeon and talk with him, maybe as you said get the feest test. All I know is that Im getting nervous about this. My appetite has finally returned and so has most of my taste, but the swallowing problems I have seem to be later in the day, after working and when I'm starting to tire. Please send me a direct email if you would like to contact me.

Thanks for your help. Hope all is well with you.

Fred

fred, your email address can be accessed by people when they click on your name. If you post it openly there are automated programs running around the internet that look for email addresses and strip them from everywhere they find them - and you start getting spam like crazy. It cannot be accessed by these programs from inside your profile. I am taking yours out of your last post for you.

Brian

Thanks. Im not the most technically advanced person. Learn something everyday. Its appreciated

Fred

We just want to keep you safe here, and protect your privacy. I might also add that when you PM people through this system, no one else can read your messages, not even OCF. Their are a completely private means of talking with others on the board. The calendar function of the board is unique to each user. What ever you put on there is only visible to you.