Hi all,

My wife, Lillian, has been diagnosed with cancer of the tongue (Stage1) with the lesion tucked away under the tongue on the right hand side where the tongue meets the floor of the mouth

Lillian had been complaining of pain in her mouth since mid-July of this year she went to her gp in August who suggested to go to her dentist and it was he who recommend an oral specialist here in Cork, Ireland.

On the first visit in mid-Sept they took a biopsy and the results came back at the end of Sept showing cancerous cells so we were referred to the South Infirmary hospital here in Cork

About ten days later we had the initial meeting with the surgeon who did a visual inspection with camera etc then spoke to us confirming it was cancer and was stage 1 he mentioned some of the steps taking including plastic surgeon who will reconstruct the tongue n bone

My wife them had an MRI and I think CT scan on head neck along with blood tests

Fast forward to today and a meeting with the plastic surgeon who reported that the surgeon will be taking HALF the tongue !! This knocked us for six when we heard it, it was when we heard this that reality really sunk in

The plastic surgeon explained what she will be doing with regard’s reconstructing the tongue and the jaw and how she will need skin grafts from the lower arm for the tongue and subsequently from the stomach area to help the lower arm heal

This operation is gonna take an entire day and a two week stay in hospital - from what I understand it will be life changing in terms of speaking and eating and loss of taste could also happen


So this is where we’re are on our journey I’d like to hear from others on this journey too

Thank you