Hello doctor, My friend is 30 years old. She had a neck schwannoma tumor, and that was completely removed by surgery. Post surgery, my friend could not eat or drink anything. Her voice was hoarse as well. ENT doctor followed up her and noted that her right vocal chord was paralyzed, but not the left. For her feeding, they installed a G-tube in the abdomen to give her feed from as she could not tolerate it through her mouth or nose. The ENT did the micro laryngoscopy and gave her a temporary injection to bring her right vocal chord closer, so her voice improves and encourage water intake. After three days of this procedure, she tried in the evening time to drink water and little by little; she finished half a glass. She has too much gagging that gives her a feeling of choking. When she clears her throat, the gagging looks like super sticky clear glue, and she constantly has it. The next morning she tried to drink water little by little, but she was getting aspiration. So, she got discouraged and depressed to a severe level. It is now 48th day since the removal of her tumor, and there does not seem to be any sign of her swallowing. I want to know if this is temporary or permanent. We got a couple of opinions from doctors that we sent her surgery report to and they think she can recover anytime between three to six months. The doctor who did the surgery is a vascular surgeon, and he also believes that she will recover from two to three months and will start eating and drinking slowly. I have asked the doctor about the nerve damage or cut. He said that he was not sure about the exact nerve, but seemed like a branching nerve. When I asked him if it was 10th or 12th nerve, he said it was the 12th branching nerve. The ENT doctor said 10th nerve, and it can be permanent damage. The vascular surgeon did say that they repaired the nerve and did not leave it like that. She is currently on Lorazepam, Sodium bicarbonate, Cotazym, Tylenol, Centrum and Ranitidine. At this point, I do not know what to believe anymore and what to think. I believe nerve specialists are neurologists and hence, I am here. Any of your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi. For further information consult a neurologist online -->