Hi Cowie,

I had a total glossectomy so I can relate to speaking and eating issues first hand. I also had a lot of saliva/drool in the beginning and always walked around with a box of kleenex practically hanging around my neck. The saliva was hard to contain when trying to speak but I'm happy to say that that subsided drastically. Give it a little time, it will come. I started speech therapy in April and will be "graduating" next Monday (it will be my last session). So I had about 12-14 sessions with my therapist. With a good therapist and a lot of work, I'm happy with my speech. It's not perfect or what it use to be, but in my mind it's perfect compared to where I was 6 months ago. I had my peg tube removed on April 1st and just started eating "real" food in June supplemented with liquids nutrition. It's a lot of work and takes time, patience and determination but I'm eating at least one small meal a day (more on the weekends when I have more time). I'm still experimenting with what tastes best with the few tastebuds I have and what is the easiest to wash down with water, but the fact remains that I am doing it! This was a personal goal for me when I started treatments and I feel great that I've succeeded. Not ready to eat in public quite yet, but I'm confident that that, too, will come with time.

Sorry to ramble, just wanted to let you know my experience. Keep fighting the good fight and let me know how you're making out with speech therapy.

Hugs, Nancy