Susan,

My story is very similar to your sister's. I had about 1/3 of my tongue removed. The doctors took a skin graft from my leg to reconstruct my tongue. I had a bolster in my mouth for about a week. That was the worse part because I could not talk or eat. The bolster came off a week after surgery. Boy, did that feel good! It was still extremely difficult for me to talk and eat, but after about two weeks, my speech was back to normal. It has been a little over a month since my surgery and my tongue is healing up wonderfully! After a long day of work and constantly talking, I do slur my words a bit, but I know in time that will go away. My cancer did not spread, like your sister, and that is something to be so grateful for! I am meeting with a chemo and radiation specialist next week, but I am keeping an optimistic attitude! I can understand how your sister had a panic attack because I definitely exprienced that when I first found out about my cancer. The unknown is the scariest part, I think anyways. I am hoping this will give you some comfort! You sound like a really awesome sister....just hang in there!

Ashley