Thank you for reaching out, Melissa. You are welcome here as a caregiver. Im so very sorry things are not going as planned.

To answer your questions... Yes, I have seen patients go thru a total glossectomy and recover to go on to live a decent, productive life. They do not have a trach (but did have one for a while) or feeding tube. He may not be able to talk so most will understand him but he might be able to still vocally communicate a little bit where only those close to him can understand what he says. Sure a patient who undergoes something this drastic has their medical issues and it can really do a number on them mentally too. In my opinion, when all is said and done its still better to be rid of the cancer and survive than to let cancer take over.

Recovery will likely be a long road. Try to always have someone with him while he is in the hospital. He needs an advocate to be there to be his voice. Dont be surprised if he sleeps for most of the next few days. Sleeping is a good thing and helps him to heal. Make sure to tell the doc to give him at least 2 types of strong pain meds so he can alternate between the two. This way he will never have to be in pain while waiting for the correct time to get another dose of pain meds. He is likely to be hurting pretty bad the first few days. The doc may even keep him medically sedated for a couple days which would be a good thing. He will sleep right thru the worst of it.

Please feel free to stop in as much as you like and ask questions. We will help you both get thru this.

(((HUGS)))



PS... There are aps for the ipad that he can type and it will speak for him. I have a good friend who isnt able to talk and she uses this effectively.