Dear Cathy,
My name is Gerry. I am new to this site. I had my first surgery for tongue cancer 6 years ago. The first sore I came down with was in the hospital. The intern said it was a herpetic lesion. It was very painful. They gave me apthasol and the lidacine gel. Plus I was on tyl., vioxx, ultram and benadryl(for sleep) from the surgery. I had about a tenth of the tongue removed and neck nodes removed. That year, I proceeded to get bouts of mouth sores. They had been identified as either biologically ubstable bacteria from the cancer, stress related or maybe a form of herpes. The only way to find out would be a biopsy which no one , especially me wants. I have had more surgeries since the first. The sores came the first year almost every month. Salt water is soothing sometimes. Swishing Maalox is soothing too. I usually will take ultram if the sores are real bad. The good news is that I don't get them nearly as much as I used too. Also, sometimes I would take valtrex. It's inconclusive if that works. Chloraseptic lozenges sometimes help. Good luck to you!
Gerry