Hey Gameoverman,

Dude, oral cancer is awful. It's frightening. Everything looks bleak. Doctors give you statistics and usually worst case scenarios that make you fear everything even more. The treatment is intensive, invasive and long.

I had around 80% of my tongue removed less than 2 weeks ago. I woke up in critical care unit with no voice as they had to fit a tracheostomy into my windpipe so that I could breathe. My face was huge (still swollen now), my left arm looks like it's been attacked by something as they used muscle and blood vessels to make my free flap. I was weak too.

Choosing to live was the best decision ever. It means my husband and I can continue to make a life for ourselves. I get to spend time with my family and friends. I can breathe. I'm not in the pain that I was in before.

Learning how to swallow is difficult, but when you feel that first successful ice chip slide down your throat....total bliss. It pushes you on to do more.
Learning to talk using the speech valve on the trackie is a nightmare. I hated it, but when you speak for the first time with it, ahh dude, it's brilliant. It's such an achievement and show's you're getting stronger.
All of the wins, no matter how their size, make you remember what a great decision you chose when you decided to live.

No cancer is easy, some are harder than you can ever imagine, oral cancer is one of the tougher ones. Choosing to treat it to beat it, that journey is hard, but so worth it.

Every day that I wake up after my surgery, I am that little bit stronger and I no longer have my painful tumour in my tongue.