Phlegm and Saliva filling in the mouth after tongue sarcoma

My husband had squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue and was treated in 2000. He also had a radical neck dissection since the cancer spread into the lymph node. So many long term effects to list, but he has also been dealing with the excess saliva/mucus for years now. His voice is compromised and most people have a hard time understanding him and he is now on a feeding tube and has been nearly 2 years. He did have hyperbaric oxygen therapy several years ago for another issue, but that didn't help with the saliva issue at all. Meds did not help for saliva either. I am constantly looking for new treatments.

Thank you

Baclofen 10 mg 2-3 times per day.

What is the name of the muscle relaxer you are using?

I’m on a muscle relaxer to loosen my jaw and it helps greatly!

MOJO

Interesting. I have tried a number of things to rinse my mouth. I have started rinsing with water as hot as I can stand it and find it helps loosen things up. My tongue feels like there is a coating of something holding it down but since I can't open my mouth more than one tongue depressor there is no way to determine what the solution is.

I’m 6.5 years out and still suffering from dry mouth, mucus, speech issues and eating difficulties.

Xylitol, other meds and Mucinex did not help.
What I found best is; first thing when I get up in the morning I do a rinse with nearly hot water. I swish several times and then do several sips and hack up the throat mucus. Some days are much worse than others.

After my mouth and throat are clear I brush my tongue and teeth with Crest. After the Crest I brush again with prescription Colgate Fluoride toothpaste and I don’t rinse that one out.

After I eat breakfast, which was oatmeal for well over 2-3 years post treatment I repeat the brushing routine.

I drink water throughout the day as well as repeat my brushing routine a few times daily and always after each meal, coffee or any sweet foods or dessert!

Don’t be discouraged with the need for the feeding tube for this many months, I too had one for nearly a year.

Speech therapy did not help me at all and my doctors allowed me to stop going. It was a waste of money for me!

When my throat was ready to swallow food it began to swallow food and not a day sooner.

Hang in there and fight the good fight!

MOJO

Thank you for responding. My husband has had 35 HBO treatments of 2 hours a day. Unfortunately there has been no improvement so he has decided to stop the treatments. Also he is now dealing with a bone infection in his cervical spine. This has not been an easy journey.

So very sorry for what your husband is going through… This may not be related to the particular issue but .. Sometime after my SCC surgery a ‘redness’ appeared in chin n neck area, Drs thought that it it was some kind of infection, though they could not find anything…. But was put on antibiotics and it didn’t help, had MRI which found damage to transplanted bone n blood vessels, this due to Radiation treatments… Drs suggested to redo operation!.. naturally I said NO THANK YOU.. then another Dr took me aside and suggested H.O.T.- Hyperbolic Oxygen Therapy.. and darn if this was the ‘key’ … it cleared the redness and it never has reoccurred… something to Consider…

We're going to the ENT on Tuesday so I will suggest this. Thank you.