Hi COG..........Did you have a total glossectomy or hemiglossectomy? Five years ago I had a hemiglossectomy and lost over two thirds of my tongue; however I did have my mouth/tongue rebuilt using a donor site and vein from my right arm. I am assuming that you also had some cosmetic/functional rebuilding of the tongue/oral cavity done. I was pretty dependent on my feeding tube for about six months because my throat still hurt from RAD and because I couldn't taste much anyway. After six months I slowly began eating again. First liquid/soft foods and then moved on from there. Has your speech therpist been helping you at all with your eating abitly? I spent a few sessions with my therapist learning how to move my mouth and tongue different ways to accomodate food and that helped. A lot of my eating habits were acquired through trial and error though. I ate a lot of steamed fish, scrambled eggs and broth to begin with, and worked on using what was left of my "old" tongue along with my "new" tongue. Perhaps the best place to learn new eating techniques would be with a medical professional or a speech therapist. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress, Sincerely, Donna


SCC first time 1989, with a diagnoses of 'cancer in situ' removed lesion, no other treatments.
SCC recurrence 1997 of tongue and floor of the mouth. Stage III /IV Hemmiglossectomy (removed over 60% of tongue/ floor of the mouth), free flap, modified neck, RAD and Chemo(cisplatin, 5fu) simutainously.
Cancer free 6, yes, six, years!