Throat Cancer

[buffymad]

Father in law was diagnosed with throat cancer a few years back and had to have his voice box removed and a stoma fitted. All went well but for what seems like ages now, he had problems in getting clogged up all the time, even very shortly after clearing everything out. Quite often he brings food back up. He’s been given various things to help thin the mucus down but nothing seems to work. He’s told the hospital this many a time when he goes for a check up and to get it cleaned out properly - they say there’s nothing they can do. Half the time his stoma doesn’t work and he can’t speak because of the clogging up.

Just wondered if anyone knew of others who’ve gone through this and how they coped afterwards. It’s like they’ve done their bit but are now washing their hands of him when he says there’s a problem.

[Sqad]

/////It’s like they’ve done their bit but are now washing their hands of him when he says there’s a problem./////

I would agree.
This is not a question for a website and should be presented and addressed by the hospital or District Nurse.
Firstly...has he got a tracheostomy tube with an inner tube?
Is suction equipment available ?
Have you sterile dressings to hand with sterile saline?
The fact that food comes out needs an explanation as he may well have developed an passage between his gullet and his windpipe ( Oesophago-tracheal fistula).
I am going to stop at this point and suggest that you contact the District Nurse for regular cleaning and dressing of the wound and removal and cleaning of the inner tube .
If he is coughing thick mucus and this is blocking the tube 5hen the stickiness and thickness of the mucus will need dealing with.
Not a satisfactory situation.

[Sqad]

If TTT sees this.....YES....I am sl.a ging of the NHS and with good reason.

[Sqad]

/////they say there’s nothing they can do/////

I have been giving further thought:
It might be that he has a reoccurrence of his cancer and is no longer treatable, making literal sense of the above statement.
That is just a pessimistic interpretation of mine.

[Buenchico]

It might be worth your FIL (or even you) joining a specialist support forum, in the hope of learning from the experiences of others (or vice versa):
https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/larynx-cancer-forum