Hi Aquamarine, I'll try to answer your questions. others here will be able to offer more about the tongue surgery.

His speech should be pretty good. Others have said they are able to speak well pretty quickly, with a little "lisp" that gets better over time.

Unfortunatly no one knows if he will have a recurrence of his cancer. For sure tobacco and alcohol use will increase the chance. Beyond that there are few things that a person can do. Check out the forum for a lot of information that might help him become more educated about this disease.

Emotionally, we all experience ups and downs. Some severe and some less severe. Talking things over with trusted family and friends is a start. For many this is the first experience seeing death stare us in the eye. Coming to grips with that reality takes time and effort. There are many good books that might help. The phases of resolution are much like those of grief. Their often is no way to rush getting through them. It takes time.

What you can do to help is to just be there. You don't need to be super human, you don't need to know all the answers. Just be there. Don't try to be unrealistically optimistic, nor down and negitive. This is a serious disease and it is not good that it has come back. That is not to say that he won't survive, no one knows that. He very well could survive. Doctors may talk statistics but they do not know what will happen either. All you can do is take one day at a time.

Be sure he is being seen at a major cancer hospital. In some cases radiation might still be possible.

Take care and let us know how things are going.