Dear SD158

First, I am so sorry to hear this. Second, you have come to the right place. As you surely looked around the website and forum you can tell OCF has lots of people to help you. I did not have exactly the same situation as you. I was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell cancer on my tongue in March of 2020. I too was not a smoker and only social drinker. They took half my tongue, all my lymph nodes on that side, gave me a trache tube to breath, and a nasal tube for feeding. About 8 weeks after surgery, I received 30 days of radiation (total of 60 Gray units) to tongue and neck area.

Some notes - surgery was intense but recovery improved nearly daily. Radiation was a slow burn and recovery was judged in weeks and months. I am still recovering some taste and saliva. My point is be patient with yourself. Keep a journal starting now. It will help you cope, manage your own care, and be ready for all your critical doctor appointments. I wonder if you will need a feeding tube with cancer in the cheek. I was advised to gain weight in preparation for surgery and radiation. I am 5'11" male and 160 lbs. I lost 10+ lbs in recover from surgery and again almost 15 lbs from radiation. I gained back 7-8 lbs in between. A vitamix was quite helpful to getting lots of easy to swallow calories. I would dump avocados into almost every mix. A good book i recommend is Anticancer. And, if you havent already read the analogy of finding out you have cancer is like finding a lion in the fridge, google it. It is worth the quick read. Also, find ways to exercise, feed your spirit (prayer, yoga, etc) daily. Big giant hugs are awesome therapy.

Please keep us all up to date. Sending you prayers for successful surgery and smooth recovery.

Nels