Ok. Give me details about this surgery I am about to have. I will be having the forearm flap tongue reconstruction.....neck dissection on one side and a trach. What's the worst part. I just want to be prepared. My team said to expect 3 days in ICU. Yikes! Lights....tubes......machines.....pain.... I am really dreading this. How long before I can talk ? Swallow? Breathe through my mouth? Are you hungry when you have a feeding tube? How do you go to the bathroom when you are all hooked up? Any answers or advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi,
You are doing a lot of thinking ahead and getting prepared and that is wonderful. What you don't want to do is push to hard. Listen to your body and get lots of rest as that is what is going to repair your body the fastest.

Going back to teaching full time and being on your feet and talking so much seems like pushing a lot. Neck dissections create other side effects like muscle pain that extends below the neck area. Just being able to stand and talk all day is a HUGE effort, one you take for granted when healthy.

Teacher,

OK, ICU is actually the good part - it's quiet, and the care is fantastic.

You'll probably have 4 drains from the neck, your trach, an IV, and possibly Doppler wires to monitor the blood flow to the flap, which sticks out of your neck.

You'll also have an ng tube down your nose to stomach for feeding. I asked my dad to take a picture of me in ICU, which is on my face book page (Tina Huizinga) if you want to see. You can see my thumb up in the photo.

I had what almost looked like a cast on my left arm for the graft, which came off at day 7. It looks gross, but has gotten much better. The follow up photos are there too.

I had the trach for 7 days closed and one day fenestrated, at which point I started talking (badly so don't panic). The day the fenestrated tube came out they had me swallow some water, moved up to yogurt, and it went from there.

There was no neck pain. There was pain in the forearm from the graft, especially when they took the staples out, but I am allergic to local anaesthetic, so mine was all done without that or any pain killers.

The skin graft from my leg hurt, but that's like road rash.

I got upset during my first physio in hospital when I realized how limited my movement was, but that just took time.

Hope that helps. Feel free to "friend me" on facebook if you want to see (just send a message so I know it's you).

I sounded like a Dalek for a week, probably because of the throat tube. My surgery was milder than yours by a long shot. We homeschool and I think we will be taking it very easy on me for longer than I thought. On the other hand, depending on the level you teach, it is a great time to teach compassion and responsibility to the students!

I look forward to opening my mouth wide enough to bite things.

As for the bathroom, the nurses had to unhook me each time. Don't wait till you are desperate!

I was told to hold off on most activities till my three week follow-up, which seems wiser by the day. Of course, they also know I study tae kwon do and cane fighting, and I tend to hit myself in the head with my cane. . .

Neck is too stiff to drive safely so far, even if I were not on painkillers.

Hope this helps a bit. Don't overdo, you will be back soon enough to your class!

Thanks Tina and Kris. Good information. Much appreciated.

Kristen....Cane fighting AND tae kwan do? Sounds like a very tough school

LOL, my kids do other sports, but my husband and I are enjoying martial arts.