Dear AZ....I wish I knew your name! This is "August," and my real name is Colleen. I am going out soon to a movie with my husband...and I will have popcorn and drink a coke and I could have corn on the cob or bbq'd ribs if I wanted to...had crab legs last night.....I have had the exact surgery that you have had, and there are not many of us on this forum, but there are a few. I hope you'll do what Leslie has suggested and search for and read my past posts.

I am committed to helping people who have maxillectomies, because I recall VERY clearly how frightened I was and how even my doctor's staff didn't prepare me very well. I want to help other people to get through this surgery with a little less fear and anxiety.

I'll write more later, but I think that after you read some of my posts, you'll have more specific questions to ask.

I'll share what my surgeon told me: ..that if one must have oral cancer, this location is the best place for it, since it is the easiest place to get clear margins and to feel that you are rid of it, and it has lower chances of recurrence. I choose to believe him!!

For comparison, I had my maxilla removed (on the right, just for your info) the length of five teeth. (It would have been six if I had had my wisdom tooth still.) I have read that since it generally does invade the bone, at least microscopically, they seldom remove just gum tissue but will take the bone also. I have remaining all four of my incisors, and the remaining teeth all around the other side. I was sososo sad about losing "so much," until I have watched as others have lost so much more. It sounds like you will lose even less than I did, and though I wish you hadn't had this bad luck, I will promise you that you are in very good shape indeed.

Your child will never know that anything is wrong, after you recover. With that little loss, your speech and ability to eat will be unchanged.

I had a neck dissection (because my lesion was overlooked by my dentist...another story...and had been in my mouth for so long..) I doubt that you have indications for that.

My surgeon said that he believed in getting a cure the first time, and for that reason, he always takes wide margins. I was soso sad at the time, but now I appreciate it! Since my margins were clear, and my neck dissection was negative, he did not feel that I needed radiation of chemo.

There are reconstructive surgeries that are very successful down the line, after one is sure that they will remain cancer-free, so just tuck that knowledge away for now, and be comforted by it.

You may find that you do just fine with the obturator appliance.

Have you seen a prosthodontist yet? You should be sent to one before your surgery, for some impressions to be made to be used later, and for him/her to make the "surgical obturator." This "appliance" is pretty simple. It is mostly a flat plate, designed to hold the packing in the opening that has been created in the palate, allowing the mouth to communicate with the space above it.

You will stay a night in ICU just as a precaution, to guard against swelling, but you won't have any problems. You'll be able to talk just fine, and you should be able to swallow too, depending on the fit of the obturator. Mine didn't fit well, and I had troubles.

I must go now...more later.....and I will be glad to answer emails too...but first read what I've already written here. I might even forward some emails that I have written to others, just to speed up our communications.

You will be fine. You will be sooo surprised. I sing, I am chairman of a Board of Directors, and I was back to being in charge about a month after my surgery.

More later.....gotta run. The Dark Knight awaits....and buttered popcorn. YUM!!

XOXO--Colleen