Hi Craig,

I hope they have found your cancer early enough for an operation to be unnecessary.

I had  a long op.  The radio and chemo therapy were no problem.

They made a plasic lattice mask of my face. To bolt my head to the bench. Quite comfortable

and no problem. The shot lasted about 30 to 40 seconds. You feel nothing. You may possibly

get a slight sunburn effect for which they give you creme.

I had chemo on Fridays which luckily had no adverse effects. Some people feel nauseous and they give you  medcine for this if it happens..

I had 32 days of radio therapy. On the last 10 days I had 2 sessions.

All in all it was no big deal. That will be 10 years ago in May.

I wish you well. Let us know how you get on.

Regards

Colin

Hi Colin,

Thanks very much for sharing your wisdom. I am writing on behalf of my husband who has just been diagnosed with a T4 SCC tumour on the left side of his tongue. He's going in to have an operation to remove it and I think a fairly sizable amount of his tongue- over half I think. They will also be removing his lymph nodes and he'll be having a course of radiotherapy afterwards. Obviously we are both a bit scared -not only of the cancer but also of the aftermath- how his speech, eating, taste will be affected. I am wondering what I can do to help- what can I bring to the hospital after the operation? What can I expect when he comes out of the operation? Have you had any problems with speech and if so, did speech therapy help? How long did it take for things to get 'back to normal' (if it ever does?)

I'm feeling a bit helpless at the moment and want to try and do the best for him. SOrry if this is intrusive- feel free to not answer all of it :) 

Hi my husband was diagnosed with tongue cancer 24th of May 2016 the worst time of my life when it should have been the best as he had just retired early at 58 and our first grandchild was due any day, she actually went in to labor the day after the diagnosis, he has had half his tongue removed and rebuilt from arm also had neck dissection, he came out of 12 hour op very well was able to talk a bit but was on a feed, only did one day on HDU, had feed in through nose for about a week or so then he went on clear soup, came home after 2 weeks, next hospital appointment they told us he would need chemo and radiotherapy gutted was an understatement, it was a hard 6 weeks, he could only eat blended food and lost a bit of weight, now over 6 months on he tries to eat most things except steak, he is very determined, not put much weight back on yet but it is creeping up a little, don't think it will ever get back to normal but yes he can talk it's just a little different, hope this helps, any more questions please do not hesitate to ask 

Shirley 

Hi

just to say your link does not work for the other thread, I was going to have a read myself

Thanks Carol 

Hi Carol, 

Sorry to hear the link to the information Moderator Jane provided isn't working for you. I just clicked on it and it worked for me so I'm not sure why it isn't working for you but if you click here it should work.

Do let me know if problems persist though.

Kind Regards, 

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thank you

Hi,

I lost more than half my tongue in a six and a half hour op. They did not try and rebuild my tongue I don't know why. I was warned prior to the op that I would probably not be able to eat or speak afterwards.  In can't eat and my speech can only be understood by my wife. I had some speech therapy which helped a bit. I suffered minimal discomfort from the op. They gave me morphine but this gave me hallucinations so I asked them to stop. Still no pain. The only discomfort I suffered was from being in a sitting position for three weeks.   I did suffer from a surfiet of mucus in my throat and mouth.  So if your husband has the same problem tell him to have a good cough to clear it prior to radio therapy where he will be laying on his back.

I have a small button a little above my belly button to plug into for liquid food. This takes about four hours a day for three meals. A bit of a pain but better than the alternative.

I was very weak for the first week after the op and getting out of bed to visit the en-suite loo left me panting and shaky. They discovered my blood count was very low and gave me 4 bags of blood.  

Tell your husband to keep his sense of humour. I joked and laughed  with the nurses and did not cause them any problems. This was not easy as we had retired to France and with half a tongue and little  french.

I am 80 now but still  play golf,fish and enjoy my sports car. I try to keep fit and cycle and walk and do weights. I am sure this helped me.

Tell him its just another illness to get through and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Regards

Colin

PS I just remembered they removed my soft pallet - this affected my abiity to speak and swallow.