Hi Mike. I am from southwest Michigan and was diagnosed last fall with SCC (stage 4) at the age of 43. My surgery and treatment were performed in Ann Arbor at U of M's hospital. They have a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) there and they specialize in treating Head and Neck cancers.
A third of my tongue was removed during surgery and reconstructed with a donor flap from my arm. I also had a modified neck dissection on the same side to remove lymph nodes from my jaw, of which one was cancerous. I spent about six days in the hospital to recover and before transferring to a rehab home for a few weeks.
What you are about to go through will be painful and tough, but you can endure and pull through it. You will likely have a temporary feeding tube in your nose after surgery for several weeks while your mouth heals, into which you will get your "food", hydration, and any medications you take. During this time you will drop weight since nothing solid is going in.
I had to have radiation and chemo because my cancer had spread into a lymph node. This took place about six weeks after surgery. I had 33 days of radiation and only 2 doses of Cisplatin chemotherapy. Mouth sores from treatment are painful. It can be grueling, but is necessary to kill off any possible remaining cancer cells left behind from surgery.
To answer your question about the forearm flap and artery removal affecting usage of the arm, for me is minimal. After a long bike ride the elbow area can get a little sore. I continue to have nerve pain along the scars, but usually only from being touched. My neck dissection scar on the other hand remains sensitive, but it has improved since surgery. I continue to rehabilitate my neck and shoulder with therapy.
Your overall health going into this ordeal will play a factor in how well you do. As you are young, you will likely be able to recover faster than others. You can do this.
Sleep will be hard to come by as you recover from surgery. Doctors, nurses, and techs will be visiting hourly to check the blood flow to your tongue flap and help clean out your mouth and trachea. So get sleep when you can get it.
