Hi Claire, welcome to OCF! You are young to be going thru this. Your age will help you to recover quicker than someone who is much older, say 60s. Im sure you are afraid, thats a normal thing being afraid of what is unknown. I have not gone thru the type of surgery that you are facing. But I have gone thru several other surgeries to remove cancerous tumors from my cheek and jaw. Im hoping you are being treated at a cancer center where they are familiar with oral cancer.

Going into any surgery just remember the doctor is taking a piece of your body away. They are skilled at this and will do their best to take as little as possible but still get all the cancer. You will be a bit sore but they normally will do a good job keeping you under pain meds. Make sure if you hurt to tell your nurse so they can adjust whatever you are getting for the pain. It will not help one bit to be in pain. Many hospitals are short staffed so do not wait til you are in agony to call your nurse, it could take a few minutes before they will come.

Will you be having any other type of treatment like radiation? Or is this going to be dependent upon the outcome of the lymph nodes? Even if you have been told this will not affect your eating, it will probably be uncomfortable to eat for about a week or two. You probably will be a bit sore and may not feel like talking very much for a few days. This is normal so do not be surprised if you encounter this as well as being swollen.

I wish you all the best with your upcoming surgery. Look past this bump in the road to having a cancer free future!