Hi Anne. My name is Teri, my husband has been diagnoised with tongue cancer and will be having surgery this coming Thursday. They will also be doing a neck disection to remove the lymph nodes. Right now the doctor is confident we caught the cancer at a early stage but recommended the neck disection as a safe measure.

I am scared to death and have no idea what to expect after the surgery. My husband is being very quiet, I wish he would talk to me about his feelings. He doesn't even want to tell our grown children right now. He said he might tell them the day or two before the surgery. I think this is totally wrong. I don't know if he is in denial or if he is just playing the strong guy for my sake.

The doctor said they will be removing a piece of the tongue about the size of a ping pong ball. That seems quite large to me. The doctor thought with speech theraphy he will do fine but then again he said he may always have a problem with his speech.

I am concerned the doctor may not be totally honest with us. He said this is a rare disease and judging by what I'm finding on the internet that does seem to be the case.

Right now the doctor said he would not need radiation after the surgery and from what I hear that is a good thing.

I know our lives will probably never be the same after this surgery and I can only pray to God to give us the strength to get through this.

Any help, suggestions, recommendation you can give me would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you,
Teri