Mark, welcome to OCF! Sorry you are going thru some problems with this sore. I can attempt to give you a guess but thats all it will be. What kind of doctor is treating you? If this sore is going to be treated as oral cancer, then what exactly will the doctor be doing to treat it? Do you smoke or drink? If so, quit to give your mouth a chance to heal.

If I were in your position, I would seek out a second opinion at a large cancer center. How long you will take to recover depends on many factors, including age and health. One thing you mentioned is that this area has not healed since May. By saying you are having healing issues, it leads me to think you could be in recovery longer than 2 weeks. So to answer your question, I would guess it could be 2 to 4 weeks (possibly even longer) for recovery depending on how much tissue is going to be taken.

When treating cancer, if a patient is having surgery the surgeon will remove a wide margin around the tumor. This is to make sure he gets every single teeny tiny cell or it will just come back. This is just to help you understand, not exactly what will happen with your situation. For example, say your tumor is the size of a dime, the surgeon will take tissue the size of at least a quarter. Many cancer patients will also have radiation with or without chemo to 'clean up' any stragglers. Was that discussed with you? I would think probably not since the lump is only an inflammation.

A couple words of advice.... surgeons cut and once its gone it cant be put back to be the same as it was prior to the surgery. Please see an ENT who is familiar with oral cancer and anything else that can happen in a persons mouth. Try rinsing at least 4 times per day with a mixture of 16 oz warm water, 2 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp salt. That should help it to heal.

Good luck!