Hello to everyone. I had my tongue surgery this March 2nd, where about 90% of my tongue was removed, replaced with a flap from my front left thigh and permanently anchored to the floor of my mouth. It's now a little over 3 months since completing my chemo (3 sessions, cisplatin) and radiation (30 sessions) therapies and it was just recently that I am able to drink water/liquids from a glass and able to sip through a straw. I am still on PEG and my challenge now is being able to eat solid or even soft food: since my tongue flap is anchored to the floor of my mouth, I could only chew food between my teeth but obviously could not manage to control the movement of food in my mouth. If anyone has the same or very similar tongue flap surgery as I had, I would appreciate any tip you could give on eating solid food. I miss eating. Thank you in advance for your responses.


Diagnosed: 16Feb'09
Pre-op Dx: Tongue SCCA Stage IVB (T4N2cM0)
Opn: 2Mar'09. Total glossectomy, Neck dissection (Levels I-V), bilateral; Anterolateral, Thigh flap recon'n; Tracheostomy; PEG
Decanullation: 24Mar'09
IMRT x30, concurrent with chemo (cisplatin) x3: May-Jun '09
PEG out: 23Oct'09