Hi Herbert,

Your surgery sounds almost just like my husband�s. I didn�t know it was called mandibulectomy. The surgeons were probably protecting me after I severely sprained my tongue trying to say Otolaryngology .

When my husband went to the oncologists, they showed us a decision tree put out by the NCCN. Following his path, surgery -> N2b -> neck dissection -> adverse features -> extracapsular spread, they reached the conclusion of Radiation/ Chemo (preferred) or just Radiation. The radiation is very important to prevent recurrence, but, as I understand it, the chemo can help stop any cancer floating around in the system from growing.

Can you swallow? I ask because my husband�s epiglottis has been frozen since the surgery May 4 and he can swallow nothing. The surgeons didn�t know why and gave no suggestions. It wasn�t until we went to a physical therapist that she suggested speech therapy to help with swallowing. He did not start therapy until just before radiation then had to stop. Choking on the thick mucous was torture. He still wakes up choking on spit every half hour or so and it�s four weeks after treatments ended. Had we known, I would have gotten him into the swallow treatment as soon as possible.

Good luck with your treatments
Susan, CG to husband, diagnosed April 2010, age 56