The definitely knock you out for this depending on how large the tumor is and how much tongue they remove - some require grafting - this can be a 10 to 14 hour surgery. I'm not going to get into details it makes for an exceptionally long post however please read my reply to kazy (the post just below yours - newly diagnosed) she will be having he same kind of surgery - I went into great detail explaining the cancer and surgery. If they get you in for surgery before Christmas it would be ideal - as you don't want to wait with this - recovery time if it's a large tumor is approximately 2-6 weeks depending on the extensiveness of the surgery and how you heal. Generally of you get a graft they don't let you eat for the first 8-10 days. After that it just retaining yourself to eat - it's not normally a minor surgery.

Also you want to be treated at a cancer center if possible and by a top ENT.
Best of luck and do educate yourself knowledge is power.. Hugs