My surgery is scheduled for Thursday, 1/16. I will be having a complete glossectomy and dissection of the right side of my neck. The nodes on the left side have already been removed.

I met with the surgeon today who is going to be doing the reconstruction. This was the first time I have met with this person. I was very pleased with our conversation, and he made me instantly comfortable. He was very straightforward in explaining the procedure and the decisions that he might need to make along the way.

From his reading of the PET scan, he said the tumor was close to the larnyx. Depending on the exact involvement, he may have to shave some tissue off of the larnyx. If he needs to take too much, he said that it could impair my swallowing, so I need to make a choice in advance. Basically, the choice in that case is to a) keep the larynx to preserve speech but be unable to take food by mouth or b) remove the larnyx and be able to eat, but loose the ability to speak more or less normally. The surgeon emphasized that there are ways to articulate sound without a larnyx and be understood.

I have been thinking about it this afternoon and have decided that I would rather have my larnyx removed if it came down to a choice between eating and talking. Never eating by mouth would be pretty devastating to me. I hate to loose my larnyx, but I think I could deal better with an alternate means of speech than I could with a life of not eating by mouth.

The most important thing he said was that he's confident (within the uncertainty inherent in cancer) that I have a good shot at successful treatment this time around. He believes they can get it all with the surgery. It's very likely that I will then need to go through radiation + chemo. I really hate to go through that again, but I really like being alive, so it will be worth it.

As for the reconstruction itself, he will be take tissue from my thigh for the reconstruction of the tongue. If they tumor has involved my jaw, it's possible they will need to take some bone from my shin to do a reconstruction of the jaw.

So, here I am waiting for the surgery. Though I am terrified, it's good to have everything lined and understand what is going to be happening. I still can't believe I had this stupid recurrence, but it happened and there is nothing to do but move forward. I am confident in my surgical team. Life is going to change more this second time around, but I adapted the first time and will adapt again.

Hi Roger, sounds like a good plan.
Kris had a total laryngectomy with his Glossectomy as the epiglottis was involved. Leaving the larynx would have meant a life time of aspirating, even saliva.
Trust in your plan and surgeon. You will be okay.
When you feel up to it let us know how the surgery went. Thinking of you.
Tammy

Roger C.

You did your research, know the options, have set surgery plans, date, and most of all have trust in your doctors. I wish the best for your surgery, and you will be in my thoughts. Like you said, you've did this before, and will do it again! Take care, and thanks for updating.

Roger, a lot of us are watching your thread, waiting hopeful for good surgery results and to hear from you again after.

Stay strong,

Tony

Best of luck hope everything goes amazingly well.

Thank you all for your kind wishes and support. I will post back with progress when I have my wits about me again.

Tammy, your husband Kris's experience with the laryngectomy makes the thought of it easier for me if it has to happen. The eating advantages are obvious without the fear of aspiration, and it sounds like he is able to communicate fine. I hope I can keep my larnyx, but if I can't I have Kris as a role model for a good recovery.

Hang in there, Roger!

Its amazing the things we can adjust to isnt it? I greatly admire your upbeat attitude and how easily you are taking this in stride.

Hoping your surgery is a success and you have a speedy and painless recovery. Dont be afraid to be your own advocate and speak up if you need something. Dont be afraid to ask for the pain meds. Having a patient hurt is not helpful to their recovery at all, it makes it much harder to bounce back when you hurt.

Im not sure what your speaking ability will be but if you will have a trach, ask specifically for a possey muir valve trach. The possey muir valve trach allows the patient to talk easily without having to do anything special.

Wishing you all the very best with everything! We are all in your corner cheering you on. Please post when you are able or maybe you could have a relative provide an update for us. We all worry about each other when one of us goes for a major surgery.

Thank you very much Christine! Believe me, I have plenty of moments of despair, but I am doing my best to face the situation bravely. In a few days all detectable bits of this horrible thing will be out of my body. That is something to look forward to. Of course there will be rads+chemo down the line, but I will worry about that when it gets here. In the mean time, I will shamelessly allow my wonderful family to treat me like a king as I recover from surgery.

The first time around, I was amazed at how painless the recovery was. The team at the hospital did a great job of managing my pain. I am hoping for a similar experience this time around, though the surgery is of course more extensive. I'll be sure to make it known if I am having pain.

Thanks for the tip on the trach. The first time around the trach did not have any sort of valve. When I got to speaking, I had to cover it with my finger. After a while I was able to cap it off during the day so speaking was easy, and then the wonderful day finally came when it was removed altogether.

Thanks again for your kind wishes and support. I'll be sure to post when I can or get my daughter to do so for me.

I am alive! Complete glossectomy. Clean margins. In surgery 12 hours. They saved my larynx. They are confident they got all the cancer. Right neck dissection removed all nodes, many of which were involved. Chemo will probably be started in a month. No bone involvement.

Congratuations on a successful surgery! Rest up!