Hi! Happy to have found this support group. My husband was diagnosed with SCC this past February after seeking treatment for what he thought was a cold sore on the underside of his tongue. In April, he had surgery to have the tumor removed, which included splitting his jaw and removing half his tongue and a section of lymph nodes from his neck. His tongue was reconstructed with a forearm flap, and he had a two week stay in the ICU. The surgery went well by the doctors accounts, and they were able to remove the tumor with clear margins, but added 33 RT and 3 rounds high dose chemo (cisplatin) because it was Stage IVb. The radiation/chemo treatments were incredibly difficult, in terms of nausea, vomiting and pain but with many meds and a supportive palliative team, he got through that. Now we are struggling with the aftermath. My husband stopped eating two weeks into the treatments, and hasn't swallowed anything but his own saliva since that time. He stopped speaking mid treatment too and still is unable to speak. Right now, nausea is under control, but struggling with a very shallow gag reflex, lots of spitting, and gagging which escalates to choking and sometimes vomiting, although the latter has lessoned in the last few weeks. All to say, now we are left wondering when life will ever feel normal again, and if what he is experiencing is typical. He had been seeing a SLP and will follow up later with one but overall the advice was always to keep swallowing and keep talking if he is able--but he's been unable to do that. Thanks so much in advance for your help and support.