Hi Michelle,
I had the entire left side of my mandible replaced by the small bone in my leg. I had this surgery 17 months ago. The surgery itself was the easy part for me. I was in the hospital 11 days, a trach in place for three days. I was kept pretty drugged for the first few days as they have to keep your head angled at a certain degree. I had no pain in my jaw or neck area, all my pain resulted from my leg. It did sting when they removed the drains in my neck but only for a few seconds.
I had a PEG tube inserted during surgery and did not eat anything until my 10th day in the hospital. Then I was eating pudding and apple juice. On about the 13th day or so after the surgery, after I was home, I was eating anything I wanted to eat.
All my issues after the surgery stemmed from my leg. My leg is still weaker and I can't do alot of what I used to do but I've adjusted to that. My jaw has gotten stiffer over the past few months but that is from the radiation.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Minnie

SCC Left Mandible. Jaw replaced with bone from leg. Neck disection, 37 radiation treatments. Recurrence 8-28-07, stage 2, tongue. One third of tongue removed 10-4-07. 5-23-08 chemo started for tumor behind swallowing passage, Our good friend and much loved OCF member Minnie has been lost to the disease (RIP 10-29-08). We will all miss her greatly.