John, my guess is that the blisters are merely that and that they'll go away with time. I won't guess about how long because like everything else, healing is an individual thing.

As far as the shaving thing, yeah, an electric might be the way to go. I just plain didn't shave from a few days before my neck dissection until at least 6 months after RT. Wasn't worth the bother with all the numbness in my neck and cheek. Then I dutifully shaved for a year or so until I decided it was too much trouble. But I had a beard for many years in my 30s and 40s so it's a natural feel for me.

Hang in there buddy!

I was pretty self-conscious about my appearance, too. In fact, when my neck really got bad due to the radiation, I couldn't bring myself to even look in the mirror. Even now, I think that I look sort of lopsided, but everybody else thinks I look terrific. I was at the cancer center last week for a check-up and one of the people who had worked with me commented on how great I look. The worst thing was just a few weeks after I completed my treatments, I had to get my drivers licence renewed, so my picture on it is a constant reminder of how far I have come. If you just had surgery with no radiation or chemo, you will bounce back much faster.

Thanks for the advice guys. I know I say this a lot but it means the world to me. I went out today as planned and it felt exhilarating. I even had moments where I forgot about the incesion. It's funny (for lack of a better term) how when you're diagnosed with a possibly fatal disease like cancer how such simple things can give you a esteem boost. My mom took me to Denny's and although it took me a very long time to eat I found I could eat some normal things that I love. It just filled me with me so much hope and made me feel much less alone.
I did end up getting quite fatigued during our mall visit but I found a copy of the witches on DVD and me and my mom will hunker down and watch that later.
As for creating a signature I don't understand all of the info on yours and some of the info you do have I haven't been given yet

John, after my 57 nodes removed my smile got numb. but less than 2 months later it is almost normal.

I'm also constantly worried about whether or not I'm going to be able to go back to my job. I'm less than a month shy of being covered by the fmla act.

Hi John - it sounds like you are making good progress. My son also had a slight problem with his speech and he sounded like he was talking with a lisp but it was only a very short time before his speech returned to the way it was before. We went out to eat to places where he liked and could tolerate certain foods. Getting out to do even the simplest things is uplifting and good for you and your Mom, too!. I found that I really enjoyed just seeing my son eat and smile a little. Like you, he did get very tired and slept a LOT, so getting lots of rest is important. Don't worry about the scar. It gets very faint in time and hardly noticeable at all. About the abbreviations, if you go to the top of this page and click where it says "Forum" you will see a list of threads to the right. Just hit the "Abbreviations" and this will get you to a bunch of stuff on them. I also have a web page I made from most of the abbreviations found here and have put them in alphabetical order. If you want to check this out, just go to:

http://web.utk.edu/~aalix/abbreviations.html

Whenever you get ready to do your own signature line, here's what you do:
1) Go to top of this page, click on "My Stuff" and then "Profile"
2) Scroll all the way to the bottom where you see the Signature Box
3) Type in whatever you like
4) Click on Preview to check and see if you want to make changes
5) Hit Submit and "Voil�" That's it!!

John, at some point you will speak fine - I meant to say this to you way back but got caught up in other parts of your post. As I've said before I had a third of my tongue removed. Then I had 33 fry sessions (radiation) - I do film work part time - so I called my agent last week (it's been 1 year since surgery, and 9.5 mos since radiation finished) I listened to my message back after leaving it and was shocked to discover I had no lisp! I struggle with some letters sometimes but for the most part I speak clearly. I do get dry ocassionally so I need water at hand but other than thar i feel great - and very blessed!
Distraction (like going out with your mom) and focusing on other things will help alleviate the fear - give it time.
Also I'm not sure why they use staples for neck dissections when there are other options available, it's bizarre - if they just thought a little more - a person is already traumatized with a cancer diagnosis, then you chop them up, why the hell would you make it an even more traumatic recovery? Any good surgeon can do a hidden stitch, so why not use that? It makes it visually easier on a patient particularly if you have to split the jaw.
I've wondered that or a while - I do know it's probably faster for them but still....
Hoping you get good news and don't have to do rads... As for people staring let them - who cares - as you probably know the only opinions that matter are those of people who actually mean something to you. the rest can take a hike!! take care!

Thanks again everyone. I did end up getting an electric razor and thankfully it had a grooming end because after a week of not shaving my face was a hot mess. I had to use the buzzer part to trim down the hair and the actual electric razor. I could not believe the amount of dry skin that came off my face! I sadly couldn't shave by my incision so there is still a little hair by it and after getting rid of all my facial hair I noticed just how much tape residue is on my neck.
Went out yesterday for the whole day and it was invigorating! Although I did get pretty worn down. *** has anyone else noticed this -->*** and I noticed my tongue seemed to have gotten a little tired as well.

Tomorrow I go for my post-op appointment. Hoping for good news and to get the staples out of my neck. They are quite itchy.

Staples should come out soon they don't leave them in too long as it makes it more painful to remove them - though at this moment I imagine your neck is quite numb..... As for your fatigue it's normal - your body is recovering from a traumatic event - it takes a while. Try upping your protein intake it will help your healing. i'm a veg head so I use a good harmonized (soyless) vegan protein powder in a morning smoothie - but there are plenty of other ways to get extra protein. good luck today!

Thanks for the staples info. Has anyone else experienced blisters on their tongue after surgery? I have a tiny blister at the end of my tongue and if it would just go away I'd be talking fine. I'm just so worried that having blisters isn't normal. It reminds me of when I first had braces and cut the end of my tongue on them and could barely do anything. But I notice that after and while I'm eating.