Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. I had almost the same Dx, SCC on the left anterior bottom surface of my tongue in April 2016. I had a partial glossectomy and left arm radial forearm free flap reconstructive surgery, plus lymph nodes removed from the left side of my neck. It was very difficult to speak for a few days after surgery, but for me and most patients I know who have gone through the same or similar surgery, I was able to speak well enough so people could understand me within a month or so. At least, SIRI could understand me!

The surgery makes your tongue swell, and the surgeons also make the reconstructed tongue flap a little larger than it should be just in case you need to have RT, which can cause the tongue tissue to shrink. In my case the RT slightly shrank my tongue flap enough so that I didn't need further surgery to reduce the size (although I'm doubtful if I would have chosen to do that, because 1 tongue surgery was enough for me!).

It's now been about 6 months since my surgery and 3 months post RT, and many people who hear me speaking and don't know about my surgery and RT, tell me that they couldn't tell the difference in my speech. I do have difficulty pronouncing some sounds, but for the most part am understandable. My husband tells me that I have always mumbled, so there is not much noticeable difference, LOL.

Best wishes to your husband in his treatments!