Hi All

My wonderful Dad age now 71, was diagnosed with throat cancer 10 yrs ago - he had a 6 hr Op and extensive RT, recovered, and 10 yrs later he was diagnosed with Cancer of the tongue. He had 3 small Ops, one at one hospital, next 2 at a different hospital ( all in the last few months)  but all unortunately failed. He then under duress endured a 9 hr Op on 27/07 to have free flap surgery, the tongue reconstructed with skin from his thigh. He spent 4 days in ICU, had a trachaeostomy , and was moved to the ward on day 5. His face was (& still is) extremely swollen & when Trachea was removed last Tues he couldn't swallow, move his neck or talk. Last Saturday 7/08 he had a severe hemorrhage from the neck & was back in ICU for another 3 days -  he was critical but thankfully pulled through and is now back in the ward. He had to have a blood transfusion yesterday due to loss of blood and very low red blood cell count, still has the Trachea in - they tried to remove it yesterday morning but he had a panic attack, was struggling to breathe, so they re-inserted it.

I visit him along with his partner every other day, he is so depressed, feels like giving up, even though he has been told that the cancer has been eradicated. He is so frail & scared, still obviously nil by mouth so has a feeding tube & is petrified of not being able to swallow or talk. It breaks my heart every time i see him like this as i am completely useless & cannot fix things. Has anyone else has his Op or can shed any light as to recovery process? I have obviously googled loads but would be good to hear from anyone who has been through the same.

Desperately heartbroken daughter, Julie