I don't know who will read this, but I wanted to tell all who go thru a procedure of either removing part or all of their jaw due to cancer, it gets better with time. My biggest concern when they told me they had to remove my lower jaw was.. "can I still eat pizza?" My care team assured me I would go on to live a full, normal life.

It is a process of coming to grips with a new life. I am here 13 years after my surgery, and I can say I am so grateful to be alive and vital. Sure, my facial structure is not what it used to be, but I am able to smile, and people are drawn to my smile. Of course, it helps that I have perfect teeth on my upper jaw. I had implants put in after a few years when the radiation finally took the last of my good teeth.

My message is.. this surgery is horrifying, it's something that causes us to stop and say, "what did I do wrong". But the fact is, it happened. And we have to make the best of what we have. I love my life and treat each day as an adventure.

For those of you just starting on this path of surgery, or have already had it, I am available to talk. Just leave a private message..or you can ask questions here on the forum for others to learn from.

Cris

SCC 8/24/13 Floor of mouth, invaded lower jaw bone Stage III, no spread to lymph nodes, age 53
Surgery 9/17/13, Full dissection, removed lymph nodes both side neck, removed lower jaw, put in skin graft for flap & fibular replacement for jaw
33 Tomo radiation treatments completed on 1/3/14, no caregiver
Awaiting teeth implant - reconstructive surgery sometime Spring, 2014

Note: I don't understand all the lingo or abbreviations, so am just writing it down from what I could figure out.