dear all - perhaps this forum would be the more appropriate place to post this query. grateful for your feedback please...
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Dear All,

This is my fist post and would beg your indulgence if am not doing this right.

My dad just had his second surgery for the removal of a tumor which is deemed a recurrence from an earlier wide resection of a floor of the mouth CA ( june2007)

This recent procedure , done some 4 weeks back, removed some 11cm of his mandible and the area around it. A titanium plate was installed and a pectoral flap was made for reconstruction.

So far, healing seems OK (despite chemo / rad of the area some 18 months back). My concern , however, is that he still CANT swallow - not even his saliva. The surgeons say that they have have kept the tongue intact and the nerves as well. Thus they see no reason why dad shoudnt be able to "re-learn" his swallowing faculties. BTW, he can move his tongue up and down, sideways a bit but can fully extend it outwards. also noted a bit of a tongue slant towards the resected area of the mouth. His speech is garbled but some words are recognizable.

Due to his inability to swallow, he was on an NGT till this morning when a PEG was finally inserted as feeding replacement to ease the irritation of the NGT. Speech/Tonge Therapy sessions are due to start next week.

Am here seeking your views, experiences and suggestions on this worrying issue. Is this non-ability to swallow normal? if not, cant it still be regained? how long will the rehab take?

grateful for your help -

Mundace

Not being able to swallow after surgery is normal. I had my tongue surgery back in February and they tell me I will be lucky to learn how to swallow again by Christmas. My story is complicated by having to get even more radiation and chemo (last TX tomorrow ! )so that has set me back. The key is to have your father get SPEECH AND SWALLOWING THERAPY. I finished off 20 sessions and will be taking another 20 once my throat calms down from this radiation and I get the all clear from my surgeon,
So while it is a hassle, it does not mean anything too bad. Some people have no problems with swallowing. I had no problems the first time I went through this, it was relatively easy, and I did not even use a feeding tube, Different story the second time around. since this is your fathers second time, just be patient and make sure he gets the therapy,
Charm

When I came to after surgery at Ohio State, the 1st thing that came to mind was to force myself to swallow. I had been told that I wouln't be able to do this before surgery. By the time the nurse ame with meds, I felt confident and asked her to let me swallow them, She said that was impossible. I asked her to let me try. She did and I swallowed them with water. Dribbled a little but they went down. It's a force yourself thing.

thanks charm for the reply - hope things go well on your end too. best regards

thanks EZ jim - appreciate the help. best regards

If I remember right BarbT was standing there too.