Hi

I am Richard Clegg, age 45 from England. I was disgnosed with cancer of mouth & neck in February 2007 and had surgery at the end of March to remove a tumour from my mouth and some cancerous material from my neck (ie, I had a neck dissection). I have also had plastic surgery - an artery has been taken from my wrist and put into my mouth (flap surgery) and I have had a skin graft from my thigh to my wrist.

So far, I have been doing well. I was in hospital only a week and have had no real pain at all. I am now back at work, eating and drinking normally and driving - which I gather is not bad going for only just over a month after the surgery.

The big uncertainty at the moment is whether or not I will need radiotherapy. I should find out on Friday and am obviously hoping that it won't be needed. There is some uncertainty as to whether radiotherapy would require a PEG tube (something I have not had yet and am rather hoping I won't need). So far I think I have been very lucky but I am quite anxious about the side effects of radiotherapy and about the possibility that I might need a PEG.

Richard