I have a friend who has had his thyroid completely removed because it was cancerous...it has been three weeks and he is still having problems passing the barium swallow test, so has a feeding tube...he goes back to the doctors tomorrow. If he cannot pass the test, what will his options be? He is 75 years old.
I don't understand why he should have barium swallow. You mentioned he is having thyroid cancer, then why barium swallow. There must be something more that you have missed to mention. Thyroid malignancy will not affect swallowing function.