Hey there, my name is Matt. I am new to this site and have a few questions for any survivors who feel they can help me. I was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Mar. of '10 and had a partial glossectomy with unilateral radical neck dissection with the removal of 60 lymph nodes 1 of which was cancerous in Apr. of '10 and 6 weeks of radiation 5 days a week. I seem to be recovering from the radiation slowly (last rad. dosage Aug 17 '10) my taste is slowly coming back, swelling of right side of face is still very present. My major concern which brings me to my question is when I will be able to have my speech back to the way it was prior to surgery? My fear is that is will not come back. For the most part I have it aside from slurring especially with "th's" for example the word "thirty". I spoke with my doctor who was the one who performed the reconstructive surgery and he said my voice will be back to the way it was 1. because radiation will shrink the added skin and muscle that was placed to my tongue from my leg which in turn will aid in my speech to return it back to the way it was. If this is true....how long after radiation does that take? Secondly, he said there is a surgery which is outpatient where he can take a small area from my leg and add more to the floor of my mouth which will give my tongue more mobility because it is pulling to the right when I try to move it. Also I am unable to stick my tongue out at all due to lack of mobility. I am just concerned that either this surgery was not done correctly to reconstruct or either this happens but it is fixable. Would appreciate some input and really pray that my voice will improve.
Thank you in advance!