Rhonda,

Welcome. My story is also simliar to yours, though I was a smoker for 18 years. 2-3 cm tumor on left underside of tongue, well-differentiated, invasive (muscle). Went to ENT recommended by my oral surgeon who found the cancer. Had a CT and PET done. Recommended procedure was partial glossectomy and selective neck dissection.

Just before surgery, I had a second opinion at Johns Hopkins. They would only have done the SND if the PG tissue showed tumor greater than 4mm depth. Because they couldn't get me in before my already-scheduled surgery, and because I knew I wanted to know lymph node status, I went ahead with the SND this past July 18 as originally planned. They took probably 15-20% of my tongue and 11 nodes -- all tissues were negative.

Tongue recovery: I stuck to liquids for a good 8-10 days, then kept to softer foods. Tongue sensation seemed to change every couple of days (numb here and sensitive there; then sensitive here and numb there). It was probably a good 5 weeks before my stitches all dissolved. If you don't regularly carry many extra pounds, I'd suggest a bit of carbo loading before the surgery. You will lose some weight.

Neck recovery: You'll wake up with a "tight" neck. Mine was more disconcerting than painful. I was fearful of moving to much, that I might pop a stitch, but they use some heavy-grade non-dissolving thread so it would be tough to do so. Laying down and sitting up were the most difficult, simply because of the "tightness" and residual paranoia about stitch-popping. My neck started feeling much better after just a couple of weeks. Lately, it has returned to being a bit stiffer, and there is some odd tingling around the jaw, so I'm glad to read the other responses here that mention similar sensations.

The first day after surgery I didn't think I'd be ready to go home the following day. The second day I couldn't wait to get home. Do what they say when they tell you to get up and walk around. You may think it sounds nuts to do so with so many stitches in you, but you'll feel much better.

Because of a good margin, no evidence of cancer in any of the tissues removed, and my age, radiation isn't recommended for me right now. I did see a radiation oncologist before surgery, but only as a consultation on what I might expect after surgery since follow-on RT is often necessary. I had one follow-up with him post-op to confirm radiation wasn't presently recommended.

That's a bit of a scattershot response, but I hope it helps in some way to fill the picture of what you may go through in the next few weeks.

My next few weeks will involve a follow-up CT/PET since I have a bit of bulging tissue under part of my neck scar. I hope it's only scar tissue, and my ENT thinks so, but I'm not taking any chances.