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Questions posted in the
Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: Voice/swallowing damageForum: Neurology Forum
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My daughter, now age 24, had a brain tumor 5 years ago. surgery to remove the tumor damaged several cranial nerves, resulting in deafness in her right ear, very limited movement of the right side of her face, paralysis of the right vocal cord, and surrounding throat area, resulting in great difficulty with swallowing. Initially, she could not even swallow her own secretions, but now she can swallow most foods, but it is a long, very difficult process. Is there any place where she might receive any kind of help; new surgery that could repair any of the damage? She can live with the deafness in one ear, and the weakness in her right arm, sagging of her right shoulder. She has even learned to accept the partial facial paralysis with dignity and grace. But the damage to her voice (very limited volume and vocal range) and the swallowing problem have been the most difficult things for her to learn to live with. When others can eat a burger and fries and be ready to go, she will have gotten only two or three bites of food down in the same time period. Can anything be done to help her? = Speech and swallowing problems resulting from neurologic damage (for example, residual from brainstem tumor) are very difficult to treat. I personally refer all my patients with such problems to our speech/swallowing therapy department and let them conduct the appropriate evaluation and suggest a course of rehabilitation therapy. Sometimes it helps, sometimes they are unable to offer significant help. I hope by now that your doctor has sent your doctor to speech therapist for such evaluation. If not, it may be a good start. If so, perhaps a second opinion from another speech/swallow expert could help. Hope this helps. CCF MD mdf.
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