Hello! I'm Robin B and you'll see my posts under DrgnldyWarrior. Drgnldy because I like the strength projected by the symbol of a dragon and Warrior because it reminds me of my goal to help my loved one beat her cancer.

My loved one is my mom. My dad and I are her primary caregivers. She is a young 77 yo and was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. We believe it started making itself known November 2015 when she complained about having difficulty swallowing. Not long after, she had a sore on the left side of the tongue. In the last few weeks, everything has moved rapidly. On Tuesday 8/2/16 she had the left side of her tongue removed and her neck was cut from mandible to mandible to remove lymph nodes. The floor of the tongue was left, I assume to give her the best chance to recover speech and eating. She's now 2 days post-op.

She seems to have come through surgery well. The left side where reconstruction took place looks healthy and pink. My concern is that the right side of her tongue turned black right afterwards and is still that way. I don't know what the term is for this and don't know what type of action should be taken. The surgical residents have indicated it isn't unusual and they are taking a "wait and see" position. I'm worried she will lose the healthy side of her tongue.

I would really appreciate any direction you can give to help me understand this.