Hi everyone,

I am new here. My brother had cancer last year under his tongue. He was given radiation, and surgery. Now its back again...at the back left of his tongue. They cannot do radiation again...so they are doing a surgery. Its so upsetting...they will need to remove half or more of his tongue and the lower left jaw. He is very very upset about it.

I wish to know...how is the speech after this surgery? How long does it take to get the speech as normal as possible?

What can we do to make sure he doesn't ever get it again?

What can I do to help him emotionally?

Thank you so much...

Aquamarine

Hi Aquamarine, I'll try to answer your questions. others here will be able to offer more about the tongue surgery.

His speech should be pretty good. Others have said they are able to speak well pretty quickly, with a little "lisp" that gets better over time.

Unfortunatly no one knows if he will have a recurrence of his cancer. For sure tobacco and alcohol use will increase the chance. Beyond that there are few things that a person can do. Check out the forum for a lot of information that might help him become more educated about this disease.

Emotionally, we all experience ups and downs. Some severe and some less severe. Talking things over with trusted family and friends is a start. For many this is the first experience seeing death stare us in the eye. Coming to grips with that reality takes time and effort. There are many good books that might help. The phases of resolution are much like those of grief. Their often is no way to rush getting through them. It takes time.

What you can do to help is to just be there. You don't need to be super human, you don't need to know all the answers. Just be there. Don't try to be unrealistically optimistic, nor down and negitive. This is a serious disease and it is not good that it has come back. That is not to say that he won't survive, no one knows that. He very well could survive. Doctors may talk statistics but they do not know what will happen either. All you can do is take one day at a time.

Be sure he is being seen at a major cancer hospital. In some cases radiation might still be possible.

Take care and let us know how things are going.

Dear Mark,

I am so glad to hear from you. Yesterday I was reading your message on what are the things you have done...and it sounded so nice! I was reading out your message to my brother (he lives in India). And I'm also looking into the books you have mentioned. Your message sounded so nice to me, that I also read it out to another friend of mine who lives in Canada (I live in Massachusetts). She had cancer in her tonsil too. Two years back.

My brother is being seen at one of the best hospitals there, and by one of the best doctors.

And we are praying, doing healings...everything.

Did you take the Immunopower mentioned in that book you talked about? It has great reviews at Amazon.com, and people have written how much Immunopower has helped them. What is your opinion?

His surgery has been rescheduled for Wednesday now.

How have you been doing? I will keep in touch...you are a source of inspiration.

Take care,
Aquamarine