Hi Debra!

Welcome to OCF, glad you were able to find us, please ask any questions you may have. No question is silly here.

I too had a partial mandibulectomy. It definately is not an easy surgery but like others have said you really need to find out why the doctors want to do this. For me, it was because the cancer was lying on the jawbone.

I was hospitalized for 2 weeks, had a trache and feeding tube placed. I had my leg bone used but others have had their arm bone used.

Definately try to have someone there for you while in the hospital so they can help relaying messages to the nurses for you. Also, get a dry erase board to use for communication. Eat as much as you can now. My surgery lasted 14hrs others about the same give or take a couple of hours. Liek we all have said, it's a BIG surgery so you want to weigh all your options and be certain of what you are getting into and why.

Where are you being treated in Houston?