VitalStim Therapy and The Road To Recovery
The diagnosis in 1995 that I had cancer of the tongue launched me on a nine-year medical battle. Not to beat the cancer -- chemotherapy and radiation took care of that immediately -- but to regain the ability to eat and swallow and to breathe without a tracheostomy. The cancer treatment saved my life but severely damaged my throat tissues. For a year I fed myself through a PEG tube.
The tube was taken out in May 1996 because I regained a limited ability to swallow solids and liquids, but in 2000 I got pneumonia, probably because I aspirated food. In 2001 I came down with another respiratory infection. Swallowing got harder, if not impossible. During surgery to determine the cause, the doctor could not enter my throat because there was so much swelling there. He tried to access it by working up from my stomach, through the esophagus, but couldn't find an opening that way either. He aborted the procedure and put the PEG tube back.
A few months later my doctor attempted again to dilate my upper esophagus. As a result of that procedure and the swelling that took place I had to have an emergency tracheostomy. Luckily, the tracheostomy saved my life. Later he told me there was so much swelling and scar tissue there wasn't much he could do. That was confirmed to me when I traveled to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for a second opinion.
In spite of everything I kept running my commercial real estate business in Oakland, California, and when I had the time I played golf. I also kept looking for a way to be able to swallow food again. Through a friend of a friend of mine, I heard about Marcy Freed and, from her, about the VitalStim Therapy being done at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California.
I met with Jan Speirs, the speech and swallowing pathologist and the surgeon, Dr. Peter Belafsky. Dr. Belafsky recommended that I should have laser surgery and dilation in order to remove the scar tissue that had formed as a result of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. But I wanted a second opinion so I went to see a swallowing specialist at Wake Forrest Medical Center in North Carolina. He told me I was a "tough case," but that laser surgery was worth a try.
Prior to my surgery with Dr. Belafsky, I was referred to a VitalStim therapist in Napa, California to see if the muscle strength in my throat could be improved. I had a few sessions and even though I was told not to swallow liquids or solids until the surgery and dilation had been done, my voice and speech which had also been affected by chemo and radiation had definitely improved.
I have returned to Scripps twice in the last three months for laser surgery and dilation and for additional VitalStim Therapy. I have had 20 sessions and there is no doubt that the VitalStim has strengthened my swallowing muscles, which have been dormant for years. I actually have been able to swallow applesauce, yogurt, some corn chips and a few cookies.
I can see that I soon may be able to join in at family get-togethers, business lunches and dinners and other social occasions. I am grateful for having been able to find the top professionals who are on the cutting edge in the voice and swallowing field.