On December 20th I travelled to Miami to have Dr. Marx perform a left hemi mandibulectomy for radiation induced osteosarcoma of the mandible. After 3 days in the ICU, 7 days in a regular hospital room and another week staying in the Miami area waiting for a follow up appointment and clearance to travel I have arrived back home. The surgery lasted 13 hours and I awoke with a tracheostomy and no ability to talk. Thankfully, the trach was discontinued the day before I went home and I have regained the ability to talk to the point where I can be understood on a phone. I am still unable to effectively chew or swallow and have an appointment with a speech pathologist to work on that. The space where the left 2/3 of my jaw used to be is now spanned with a titanium plate covered with a skin flap from my back which is still connected to its blood supply by extending a portion of the trapezius muscle up my neck and into my mouth. I am happy to say that the graft is a 100% success. In about 7 months or so, the plan is to travel back to Miami to begin the process of reconstruction with the ultimate goal of having new teeth implanted into a new jaw bone grown from a matrix of morphogenic bone protein.
I would love to communicate with others who have had a mandibulectomy.