Hi - I'm three and a half weeks past my third tongue surgery for SCC. My first tongue surgeries in 2007 were relatively minor but this time round I had the full works - flap from wrist and neck dissection etc. I'm 63 and surprisingly fit but this is just one of a series of surgeries since 1995. I've had advanced ovarian cancer too from which I seem cured. Maybe that is why I just simply hated the surgery and seem to be allergic to so much - morphine, tape ... My body has been through so much and is rebelling.

I don't feel sorry for myself - I don't need radiation or chemo and I'm so very very glad to be at home. However, I am worried about the lack of flexibility in my new tongue, about my speech and difficulty in eating and in the garish appearance of my wrist wound, half of which looks good while the remainder looks like a volcanic landscape eek


1996, ovarian cancer surgery + cisplatin and taxol.
September, 2007, SCC of left lateral tongue. Excision.
October, 2009 recurrence in scar tissue, T1NOMO. Free flap surgery from left wrist - neck dissection. 63 year old New Zealander. No chemo, no RT.
February, 2014. New primary in left buccal mucosa. Marginal mandibulectomy, neck dissection, right arm free forearm flap. T1N0M0 but third occurrence and some areas of concern: RT started 8 April and finished 19 May.