anyone who has had their tongue removed - do you ever eat again? I have tried soft things but even they are too frustrating.

Hi COG..........Did you have a total glossectomy or hemiglossectomy? Five years ago I had a hemiglossectomy and lost over two thirds of my tongue; however I did have my mouth/tongue rebuilt using a donor site and vein from my right arm. I am assuming that you also had some cosmetic/functional rebuilding of the tongue/oral cavity done. I was pretty dependent on my feeding tube for about six months because my throat still hurt from RAD and because I couldn't taste much anyway. After six months I slowly began eating again. First liquid/soft foods and then moved on from there. Has your speech therpist been helping you at all with your eating abitly? I spent a few sessions with my therapist learning how to move my mouth and tongue different ways to accomodate food and that helped. A lot of my eating habits were acquired through trial and error though. I ate a lot of steamed fish, scrambled eggs and broth to begin with, and worked on using what was left of my "old" tongue along with my "new" tongue. Perhaps the best place to learn new eating techniques would be with a medical professional or a speech therapist. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress, Sincerely, Donna

My husband had his entire tongue removed in September, needless to say, he still has a feeding tube. He is learning to tilt his head back and swallow, but will never taste again........just be thankful you still have partial tongue, and take it one day at a time

COG...SEEMS LIKE YOU'LL NEAVER EAT AGAIN. I STARTED OFF WITH CREAM OF WHEAT. ITS BEEN THREE YEARS FOR ME, AND NOW I'M EATING THINGS LIKE SPAGHETTI WITH LOTS OF SAUCE. ANYTHING WITH GRAVY KINDA STUFF WORKS FOR ME. I CAN EAT STEAK, MAINLY THE FAT PART AND IT'S A JOB GETTING IT DOWN BUT IT CAN BE DONE. I'VE NEVER HAD A SPEECH THERPIST IT'S BEEN ALL TRIAL AND ERROR.