... My mom is now in rehab. She is on a feeding tube and has a trach-tube. She has been in rehab for 8 days now. All of this has happened so fast. She is talking well, so well that the speech therapysts are amazed. The tumor was 4 centimeters that came out of her neck. It did not spread to any of the the lymth nodes they took out and tested ( they took quite a few of those). Her leg is healing, she still can't take a step with it, but she can put pressure on the heal. They have sown her tounge in place, I guess its for the tounge's safety while healing. Her tounge is a strange white color from the graft. After she comes home there will be some down time for the wounds to heal then it will be 6 weeks of radiation every day, along with all her therapys. We are hoping that she might be able to have christmas dinner this year. The doctors belive that the trach and the peg-tube are not perminate and that with time she will regain a good deal of her old self back. If anyone can just give me some adivice on living with this. thank you.