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Anyone dealing with dysphagia? What helps?
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Mar 12 4:07am | Replies (25)Comment receiving replies
My husband had head and neck in 2013. He went through 37 weeks of radiation and chemo combined and is now in remission. However, within the last year or so the scar tissue from the radiation has become severally worse. He lost 100 pounds and at the beginning or December had a feeding tube inserted. Although this has allowed him to gain 20 pounds, his swallowing and breathing have become much worse. He constantly chokes and gets easily winded. His ENT suggested that he get a tracheostomy. We are currently awaiting an appoitment to get a second opionion. Someone had suggested having the scar tissue removed by lasor. Has anyone had this done and if so, what are the results?
Replies to "My husband had head and neck in 2013. He went through 37 weeks of radiation and..."
Here are two related discussions:
- Laser treatment for scar tissue post radiation of the throat https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/laser-treatment-for-scar-tissue-post-radiation-of-the-throat/
- Has anyone had surgery to remove scar tissue?https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-had-surgery-to-remove-scar-tissue/
@br97, has your husband worked with a speech language pathologist to help with swallowing?
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@br97 I also am having some long term effects of muscle atrophy and fibrosis/stiffness from neck radiation 13 years ago. I have been researching and find that people have benefit from red light therapy, which is a kind of low powered laser. Some are using a device at home. Swallowing therapy by a specialist in speech therapy is helpful to some people. These long term consequences of radiation are not really more than touched on when we initially had this therapy, but at that point surviving is the primary issue. I thing nowadays there is a more proactive approach but the larger medical institutions. I am seeing my medical team at Mayo in Rochester MN next week and we will discuss this. I am certain that they will have more treatments available than we have locally in NW Ohio. I think your second opinion is the best choice because tracheostomy is a huge step. Traveling to a teaching hospital or large cancer center may be worth it for what they can offer.