Anyone have experience with vitalstem therapy?

Posted by phyllisg @phyllisg, Mar 29 6:01pm

Over 2 months after TORs surgery for throat cancer my husband has made almost no progress in swallowing in spite of doing all the exercises every day. His speech therapist says she doesn't recommend it. She gave no reason why. My husband is getting more despondent daily with the inability to even swallow his own saliva. His surgeon has no answer. Looking for anyone here who has tried it. Thank you!

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Hello @phyllisg. I can certainly see why your husband would be discouraged by his post surgical dysfunction, and the lack of support by the surgeon. I had to look up Vitastim therapy and there is a lot of information online. There seem to be many hospital systems who use it. I did not find a lot of serious side effects noted that would make its use dangerous. I have had experience with a TENS unit for pain control and another noninvasive nerve stimulation device to enhance healing. Both were helpful. It sounds like you need to look around for a new speech therapist who has had successful experience with this treatment. Second opinions can be very valuable and maybe another ENT consult would open some doors into further treatment. Do you have a large referral center within driving distance? We drive 10 hours from Ohio to Mayo Clinic in MN for our cancer care as the quality is unmatched by what we had experienced.

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