Hello. I had 75% tongue removal with a forearm flap resection. This was almost four months ago. I had had radiation and chemo PRIOR to the surgery.

I'm wondering about people's experiences with eating. I'm having trouble getting beyond the liquid stage for several reasons. First, there's no sensation in the flap. It's very hard to move things around in there. Chewing almost seems futile because the "tongue" is not big enough to reach the food on the teeth. Swallowing is fine for liquids but still feels difficult with anything besides that. Trouble getting it into position, getting it down, etc.

What do people do to help with this? I have pretty good taste quality considering how much of my tongue was cut out and I would like to eat real food again, although I could live with a liquid diet if I had to. But not being able to eat when going out for meals with people is pretty uncomfortable - more for them perhaps!?