Hi MJM,

I am so sorry for what you are going thru. It is tough. I went thru similar last year - they took half my tongue, transplanted flesh from my arm, and took all my nodes (one with squamous cell) on that side followed by 30 radiation treatments. I was Stage IV. All scans are clear now for about 9 months. I am eating everything but spicy food. I have been full work, exercise, life for at least 6 months.

Yes, I have some longer-term nagging issues (dental care, neck and tongue soreness, slight lisp in speech, etc) but these are small comparatively. There is hope. You can do this.

Try to forgive yourself. I also had to reconcile my personal behavior as a part of my cancer diagnosis. It took awhile, but with family, friends, and faith, I was able to forgive and move on and focus on recovery.

This may sound strange. I found many beautiful people and gifts along the way. I reconnected with friends from high school (35 years ago!). My faith deepened. I appreciate many simple things I used to take for granted.

Reaching out to this group is an excellent step. I didn't find OCF until many months into this process. Good on you for reaching out.

You are thru the surgery. I found surgery to be the most intense process. But, RT has its own bag of challenges. As already mentioned, eat, drink, and eat! I counted all my calories/fluids and was able to stay within about 10 lbs of starting weight. The issue with RT is its a long slow burn. Surgery was one big event and I felt like I improved almost daily thereafter. From RT, I had to learn to measure my improvement in weeks/months.

Please keep us up to date on your progress.

Best
Nels