Tinaelise,

The surgery your mother is about to have sounds very similar to my recent one. I have had two partial glossectomies in February and July where part of my tongue was removed. I was able to come back from both of those after several weeks. I had radiation for six weeks until September. Unfortunately, I had a recurrance at the base of the tongue and the CT scan showed a couple of lymph nodes envolved as well. The pain prior to the surgery was increasing daily and I had to take pain medicine that was stronger than ANYTHING I had taken to that point.

Before I go on, your mother must understand that her current condition and future healing depend significantly on her ability to manage her pain. In other words she MUST take pain meds to reduce the pain. Healing is compromised without it.

I was in the hospital for six days and left with a feeding tube through the nose because I could not swallow. I was on liquid pain medicine and liquid food supplements for two weeks before I was able to swallow enough to drink the food suppplements myself. I am still on considerable pain meds: 60mg daily oxycotin and neurontin for long term relief plus 20mg oxycodone for breakthrough pain. My healing is slightly compromised because of the radiation, so I would hope that your mother would heal faster than I have. I am still on a liquid diet.

Take your mother's treatment a day at a time and don't look too far ahead for "expected" results. Everyone's case is different enough that pure comparisons are less than desired. Good luck. My prayers are with you all. May the Great Physician provide complete healing.

David