Zenda,

My daughter had SCC of the base of the tongue. Her surgery was quite similar to yours. She had the mandibulotomy, neck dissection and part of her tongue removed. She also had a flap, but it wasn't a free flap. Heather had drainage similar to yours from a fistula that had developed several weeks after her surgery. He wasn't 100% positive, but her surgeon felt that she must have developed a leak in the floor of her mouth where the sutures were. He felt that saliva was leaking through the break in the suture line, which caused the continual drainage.

In Heather's case, she had a recurrence, so the fistula never healed. I do remember another member here who had a similar circumstance. When she completed treatment, her fistula healed. I don't remember if she had surgery to correct it or if it healed on its own, but I do remember that all was well in the end. At one point, she had stated that she had a small opening under her chin during the entire radiation treatment. If you want to do a search in the forum archives, her member name was nettypoho and the posts would have been made sometime during November 2002. Hope this helps.

Rosie

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.