Swallow Test?

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NoDuck
NoDuck Member Posts: 134
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hubby only has 2 more rads! But, he continues to have trouble with gagging to the point of throwing up. At his appointment today, chemo doc said he was not bouncing back as well as she had hoped after his 6 day hospital stay. BP was low, heart rate up, signs of dehydration despite a bag or two of fluid every day for 6 days plus us getting 2 liters of fluids in him per day.

But he is obviously losing valuable fluids when he gags and vomits so he is having a test tomorrow. I was gone to Wal-Mart for the latest new meds when he got the call. He didn't ask any questions and is too fatigued to even be curious. Thoughts on what to expect?. He will be seeing the ENT and the speech pathologist.

Thanks.

Deb

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  • katenorwood
    katenorwood Member Posts: 1,912
    #2
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    Prayers
    Deb,
    Can't help with this issue, wish I could ! But wanted you to know, I'm hoping for some relief for your hubby soon ! All good thoughts sent for both of you ! Katie
  • wr0ngway
    wr0ngway Member Posts: 7
    #3
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    gagging and throwing up
    Deb,
    They gave me three different nausea meds for the chemo reaction and I used them but they didn't seem to help. Eventually I determined that I didn't have nausea from my stomach, I was having a gag reflex from stuff in my throat. Pictures at the speech patholigist's office were helpful in understanding the mechanics of the system. I think the mucous and everything just gets stuck in there and your body tries to clear it but it won't clear because its below your air intake so you end up trying to clear by throwing up. I could sometimes control the gagging just by visualizing the fluid or mucuos or whatever in my throat and telling myself that I wasn't choking because it was below, not above my air inlet.

    I hope this is helpful to you.

    David
  • fisrpotpe
    fisrpotpe Member Posts: 1,349 Member
    #4
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    simple
    the tests are very simple, they give you something to swallow and scan at the same time. they will do this several times with thin liquids, med thin and thicker along with what they call around here is a cookies swallow test where you get a bite of cookie. the only pain is if you have a sore throat to begin with. they tests are slow but easy.

    alot of those who do the tests get exercises from speech pathologist that will help swallowing.

    i agree with a post earlier, the mucus got so think when i had my treatments that i gagged alot. i used a suction pump which is very small and portable and helps a bunch.

    good luck
    john
  • CrimsonRacing
    CrimsonRacing Member Posts: 27 Member
    #5
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    fisrpotpe said:

    simple
    the tests are very simple, they give you something to swallow and scan at the same time. they will do this several times with thin liquids, med thin and thicker along with what they call around here is a cookies swallow test where you get a bite of cookie. the only pain is if you have a sore throat to begin with. they tests are slow but easy.

    alot of those who do the tests get exercises from speech pathologist that will help swallowing.

    i agree with a post earlier, the mucus got so think when i had my treatments that i gagged alot. i used a suction pump which is very small and portable and helps a bunch.

    good luck
    john

    swallow test
    I too had terrible nausea during chemo and radiation.....They always gave me a pre medication before chemo but it did not help at all.....I was in the hospital 2 different times totaling 16 days due to dehydration and malnutrition...

    My swallow test was performed as stated above......My esophagus was about the diameter of a straw.

    I have had two procedures to dilate mine and have seen alot of improvement....most foods consist of:mashed potatoes(and alot of gravy),small green beans,scrambled eggs,puddings,apple sauce and I did have some dressing the other day which of course was smothered in gravy.

    Things like anything fried,rice and grits are very abrasive to my throat and hurt alot.

    But I am improving.

    Prayers for recovery....

    Richard
  • NoDuck
    NoDuck Member Posts: 134
    #6
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    CrimsonRacing said:

    swallow test
    I too had terrible nausea during chemo and radiation.....They always gave me a pre medication before chemo but it did not help at all.....I was in the hospital 2 different times totaling 16 days due to dehydration and malnutrition...

    My swallow test was performed as stated above......My esophagus was about the diameter of a straw.

    I have had two procedures to dilate mine and have seen alot of improvement....most foods consist of:mashed potatoes(and alot of gravy),small green beans,scrambled eggs,puddings,apple sauce and I did have some dressing the other day which of course was smothered in gravy.

    Things like anything fried,rice and grits are very abrasive to my throat and hurt alot.

    But I am improving.

    Prayers for recovery....

    Richard

    He Passed!
    Thanks to all who answered my questions about Hubby's swallow test. He passed. The speech pathologist said he had " a beautiful swallow." These medical folks have a warped sense of reality -- his chemo doc took one look at his blistered peeling neck, the sores in his mouth, his thinning hair, hollow cheeks, ashen color and "turkey neck" yesterday and told him he looked good!

    Hubby did not do the full test, just the water. They say his swallow is good but he still gags and started gagging during the test. Speechpath says its nausea, not swallowing, causing the problem. So we have upped the nausea meds which make him very sleepy but I'm not sure lots of sleep right now isn't a good thing.

    I can't say I understand the diagnosis of nausea or agree with it but I'm not the medical professional so we will follow their advise. Speechpath also advised to breath through nose when he feels nauseous and to desensitize the soft palate by freezing a sponge mouth swab and rubbing it on the soft palate every day. Just what we needed -- another thing to do, but I bet we try it.

    Thanks again.

    Deb
  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #7
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    NoDuck said:

    He Passed!
    Thanks to all who answered my questions about Hubby's swallow test. He passed. The speech pathologist said he had " a beautiful swallow." These medical folks have a warped sense of reality -- his chemo doc took one look at his blistered peeling neck, the sores in his mouth, his thinning hair, hollow cheeks, ashen color and "turkey neck" yesterday and told him he looked good!

    Hubby did not do the full test, just the water. They say his swallow is good but he still gags and started gagging during the test. Speechpath says its nausea, not swallowing, causing the problem. So we have upped the nausea meds which make him very sleepy but I'm not sure lots of sleep right now isn't a good thing.

    I can't say I understand the diagnosis of nausea or agree with it but I'm not the medical professional so we will follow their advise. Speechpath also advised to breath through nose when he feels nauseous and to desensitize the soft palate by freezing a sponge mouth swab and rubbing it on the soft palate every day. Just what we needed -- another thing to do, but I bet we try it.

    Thanks again.

    Deb

    Good to hear
    Good to hear that your husband passed the swallow test. May good news continue coming his way!
  • wr0ngway
    wr0ngway Member Posts: 7
    #8
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    NoDuck said:

    He Passed!
    Thanks to all who answered my questions about Hubby's swallow test. He passed. The speech pathologist said he had " a beautiful swallow." These medical folks have a warped sense of reality -- his chemo doc took one look at his blistered peeling neck, the sores in his mouth, his thinning hair, hollow cheeks, ashen color and "turkey neck" yesterday and told him he looked good!

    Hubby did not do the full test, just the water. They say his swallow is good but he still gags and started gagging during the test. Speechpath says its nausea, not swallowing, causing the problem. So we have upped the nausea meds which make him very sleepy but I'm not sure lots of sleep right now isn't a good thing.

    I can't say I understand the diagnosis of nausea or agree with it but I'm not the medical professional so we will follow their advise. Speechpath also advised to breath through nose when he feels nauseous and to desensitize the soft palate by freezing a sponge mouth swab and rubbing it on the soft palate every day. Just what we needed -- another thing to do, but I bet we try it.

    Thanks again.

    Deb

    Deb,
    Congrats on getting through the swallow test. Best wishes for healing.
    Regarding the neck and palate, you may already have these, but in case you don't -
    Magic mouthwash helps with mouth sores and has some narcotic in it which desensitizes the palate (or whatever it touches). It know its hard to swallow but you can try gargling it or diluting it with water to help it go down.
    I used Alra lotion on my neck and that worked very well.

    D

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