 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,627 | Hi Tonya,
I had the jaw surgery your brother had, with the jaw replaced with the bone from my leg. I had it done in April of 2003. I was told I would need speech therapy to learn how to talk again. I was talking pretty much normally the day they took out the trach, surprising everyone. I did not have any surgery to my tongue so your brothers case will be more complicated, but don't give up hope of him talking again.
Please keep us updated on his progress.
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.
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