Hello Ken-
I'm Lisa from Montana. I just turned 41 and had a total glossectomy on April 19th due to advancing tongue cancer. At first I was told to expect a laryngectomy as well but as it turns out they were able to save my voice. I had 4 teeth removed because the cancer was in the floor of my mouth which was unexpected and had a few stupid infections to get past but:
I was home by the middle of may, just 23 days or so after I left home for surgery. I was able to resume fairly normal physical activity within aweek or so of surgery (once I left my hospital floor for more than two hours to walk and got paged which was embarassing!) I was able to go to Mexico for a week long vacation a month after returning home and even went parasailing on my 41st birthday!
I am actively involved in speech therapy and have been told that I am 100% understandable. I can even talk on the phone legibly. I recently had sweet potatoes which I love and am able to eat soups or thinned potatoes as i choose to.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. There are a few great people on this forum who have been there for me and I would be happy to share my journey with you. I am so incredibly pleased for how things have gone for me, I couldnt have expected that things would be this good! I wish you the very best and keep us all posted ok?