Hi all,

I'm about 4 weeks post-surgery. I had a 2cm tumor removed from the bottom right side of my tongue. The top of my tongue was not removed. Currently, on the top right side of my tongue, it's still numb; when I touch something to it, there's no sensation of feeling the touch.

My surgeon says healing will take a while, and that I shouldn't worry, but I was wondering if there's any wisdom you all have to share about how long it usually takes for sensation of touch to return to the tongue post-surgery. After 4 weeks, should I expect I'm as healed as I'm gonna get? Or is it typical for the sensation to continue to improve for months after surgery?

(I'm kind of scared to ask that question, but I also want to know what I'm dealing with here. I can tell I'm going to have to do some mourning about this if I'm unlikely to have sensation on the right side of my tongue for the rest of my life.)

Also, I currently find it's very uncomfortable to have foods that are very warm or very cold. Like ice cream is pretty uncomfortable. I understand that's typical at this point. A speech therapist said that having foods slightly cooler than what's comfortable can "wake up" the nerves, help them return. Really? Is that something others have heard or experienced? The therapist seemed a little quirky, so I didn't have a ton of confidence in what she was saying...can anyone here validate what she said? Is that common wisdom or baloney?

Appreciatively,

Rahel