My dad underwent surgery in February 06. He had 2 primary tumours one in the cheek and the other in the maxilla.
As a result all his teeth were removed - although he didn't have many, he underwent a partial maxillectomy and a large portion of his cheek including the skin was removed.
Local flap surgery was carried out to fill the large hole after the removal of the tumour. A skin graph was also carried out to make up the inside of the cheek.
They used the skin from my dad's double chin for the flap and moved it upwards like a fold. There was abit of a buckle - but all in all it turned out ok.
After the surgery they told us they got clear margins around both tumours.
7weeks after the surgery he began 7weeks of radiotherapy.

It has been 13weeks since the end of his radiotherapy. He is eating orally for several months - still has his peg tube in (just in case).
However what I am concerned about is his swollen face (just on the flap side), the pain that comes and goes...some days he has no pain..
Also after the radiation his flap dosen't look as good - parts of it have become really hard like a rock..is this normal? Parts of the skin look like they are dying - they are purple in colour.
After my intense insistance the dr's organised a ct scan - this showed a 3cm necrotic lesion. They didn't seem that alarmed and 6 weeks later - it is only now that they are doing a biospy.
What could this lesion be?

I am scared that his cancer has come back.
He also struggles to put on weight - although it remains the same.

I've read alot of the post on this site and it's been really useful.

Vicky, I want to commend you for being such a strong advocate for your dad. The old "squeaky wheel gets the grease" thing has never been more true than with medical care.

I do know that "necrotic" essentially means "localized death of living tissue" and if that is the case, I am surprised that nothing has been done for six weeks. My non-professional opinion is that while part of the graft may be failing, this does not have to mean there is a recurrence of cancer.

As far as weight, another non-professional opinion is that the drugs and/or the radiation somehow messes with our metabolism. After my taste returned, I was able to eat like a linebacker for about a year before I started to gain weight.

Let us know what happens, and do keep getting in the faces of your dad's doctors until he is cared for properly.