Hi Nels,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write--it really means a lot to us. Its funny you say to look at recovery in weeks and months, not days, because even as I write this a few weeks later we both feel like that post was light years away, and things feel much more hopeful this week. My husband went into his workplace for the first time yesterday, and even though he's still not speaking or eating by mouth, it felt good for him to reconnect in this way with the world. He hasn't been around anyone but our family and the medical staff for nearly 3 months. He has also had a few affirming sessions with an SLP who understands where he is and is giving him exercises to work on. They are challenging for him to do, and its taken some experimenting to figure out how to quell the gag reflex, but he already can open his mouth a little on his own, which he couldn't do two weeks ago. Its been affirming to read the stories on this forum, because we really had no sense of how significantly this would impact both our lives, and we were starting to wonder if he was a total outlier, but now its clear that his doctors, though very nice and competent with the treatments, never really gave us realistic expectations of the long term impact of this disease.
Thanks very much for your well wishes, and wishing the same back to you,
Tori

Caregiver for my 34 yo husband, diagnosed with SCC of tongue in 2/21. Had glossectomy neck dissection, and tongue reconstruction with tracheostomy and feeding tube placed 4/13/21. Tumor diagnosed as Stage IVb, followed by 33 RT and 3 rounds high dose cisplatin concurrently. Last treatment was end of July '21. We are parents to two small children and appreciate the support.