Hello my name is Rachel ...and im new to the site - My husband Steven who is 39 yrs old was diagnosed with tongue cancer almost a year ago...4th stage - It has now been 7 months since he has finished w/ radiation and chemo treatments - Feeds thur a feeding tube but has yet been able to swallow - can someone tell me anything bout how long would it be before he can swallow again ?? They say he is in remission and there is no sign of Cancer anyway..Thank God !! But im so worried because he has lost such much weight ...any advise would be so helpful !! thanks..

Hi Rachel,

My husband, Danny, is now 15 months post treatment for stage 4 base of tongue cancer and, like Steven, is in remission ... praise God!

It seems that the time period before swallowing returns varies between patients, as does the degree of functioning that can be achieved.

Just curious... Has Steven received any swallowing therapy by a Speech Pathologist? In addition to "traditional" modalities such as thermal stimulation and exercises for strengthening the radiation-weakened swallowing musculature... there is also a therapy called "VitalStim" which is quite interesting. You can do an online search and read more about it. I researched VitalStim extensively back before we learned that Danny's swallowing problem was not just tongue base/swallowing muscle weakness, and went another route altogether. I talked with one man in N.Y. who says VitalStim was the reason he now eats normally after (a year?) of not being able to swallow at all (following radiation for tongue cancer).

The main culprit behind my Danny's inability to swallow turned out to be a severe radiation-induced esophageal stricture... (which was not discovered until many months after radiation concluded). Danny was 100% PEG-tube dependent for 11 months... until his stricture was opened successfully. He now swallows almost normally without aspiration and maintains a good weight. He has been tube-free for eight months.

Go to the "General Chat" forum and scroll down until you see a topic initiated by me called "Radiation Induced Esophageal Strictures" and read all the posts there. If Steven hasn't already, see if he can get a referral to Speech Therapy and they will perform what's called a Modified Barium Swallow study to assess functioning and make recommendations. This study (done in x-ray) will also show up any esophageal narrowness or strictures that can occur from the scar tissue (caused by radiation) and interfere with (or prohibit) swallowing.

Rachel, I wish you and Steven the very best and hope that his swallowing will return as near to normal as possible SOON. I know how difficult it is for both of you not to share meals and dealing with the fear that comes from not knowing if/when Steven will ever be tube-free.

There is hope!!!

From my heart,

Melanie