I cannot seem to get a straight answer from either of my two surgeons regarding the odd taste in my mouth that I constantly have since oral cancer surgery. I would think it is a function of my taste buds changing, but if I expectorate into a tissue, the expectorant smells exactly as it tastes. Any idea what causes that.

My second question is about slobbering. I am 10 plus weeks out from a mandibulectomy with fibula free flap. My lower right jaw was the area removed. I no longer have feeling in the right side of my lower lip and chin and neck in that area. I am currently through half of 20 radiation treatments due to the diagnosis becoming stage 4 when cancer was found in my excised mandible. I constantly slobber I presume due to the fact that not only are there no teeth to stop it and the tongue is probably slightly raised from putting tissue there in place of the excised portion of tongue. Is that something that will ever stop? I cannot get a straight medical answer to that. To me, it relegates me to no social life in that I don't want to stand about constantly wiping the drool from my slobbery mouth. In addition, my speech is so bad (taking speech therapy twice a week and doing speech exercises three times a day) that I feel unfit for the public.

One other bothersome issue: My upper right teeth now rest against the inner portion of my cheek and rub up and down the cheek as I open and close my mouth. I wonder if that is due to edema, or is that my new permanent life?

Oh and yes, for those of you that have had a fibula free flap procedure, when did you leg stop hurting? Mine seems far from heeled (its dressed daily and medihoney is applied to the Tefla bandage) 10 weeks out and it has hurt from the moment I awakened from my 13 hour surgery until now. Particularly bothersome in that I have been a very active athlete and now am qjuite limited in my activities.

Thanks for any insight and/or info.