Thanks Gabe and Brandy,

I'm getting treated primarily at Peter Mac in Melbourne, where I still see a dietician, speech pathologist and Radiation Oncologist, but for this surgery I'm going to another hospital which has a specialised plastics unit. The Plastic Surgeon is also affiliated with Peter Mac and I'm well and truly in the system there but that is not always the best place for the actual surgeries - in fact only my PEG insertion was done there - everything else has been at other places. My ENT will do the initial excision and then the Plastic Surgeons will take over. They expect the surgery to last about 5 hours.

I think that it has been scheduled for Monday the 28th and I have MRI imaging tommorow and a PET scan next week. After reading other posts here I'm now more nervous that they won't be able to do the surgery than about the surgery itself.

Given I don't have much feeling in my mouth and only half a tongue which is unable to touch my left cheek or gums I don't think that growing hair on my flap will be too much of a problem. I'm very fair and have very little on my arms anyway. The Plastic Surgeon says I will be in hospital for 2 weeks. This seems excessive to me.

Sue G