Welcome to OCF, Pat! A mandibulectomy is one rough procedure to recover from! It will take your husband a long time to recover. Its very common to send a patient who has this done to a special care facility to further recover before going home. Everything you have described sounds like its normal to me.

When I had my mandibulectomy, I was hospitalized for 2 months. I hurt so bad and would cry almost every day from the pain. It was terrible! That was my experience, everyone is different and will recover at their own pace. It will take a full year for his body to be completely healed from this invasive procedure. It is also normal to be sent back into the OR for minor tweaking. During my 2 month stint, I had a total of 7 surgeries. My first mandibulectomy failed and my face turned black where the new skin was, it had to be redone. This is not common but it does happen. Its more common within the first week of the procedure if the transported skin does not get adequate blood flow.

To help with the healing, your husband should be getting extra protein. I would speak to his doctor about this. There are liquid protein 'shots' that have 25 grams of protein and they can be put right thru his feeding tube. In cases like this, it is a good idea to help him bounce back quicker.

Hang in there, it will be ok now that you have found OCF to help you.