After two surgeries the past year to excise a tongue lesion (Squamous T1)it's back. The choice confronting me is radiation therapy vs what's known as free flap surgery, in whioch a large chunk o tongue os removed as well as the floor of my mouth and replaced with skin taken from my back or forewarm, whichever is less hairy I suppose. Naturally I'm freaked by either, but freaking is a luxury for which I have little time to indulge. Any insight out there from people who've experienced either? Specifically, what's the best case-worst case scenarios for either, what are the likely complicatins from either, how long does it take for either to "normalize," and if and when normalization actually occurs, what kind of mouth function will I have left? Taste? Swallow? Spit? Energy? My surgeon clearly prefers the free flap option, arguing that once you've radiated, it's harder for surgeons to clean up the mess afterwards should further reciurrence take place? To that end, he argues it's better to cut first and then radiate as a fall back rather than the other way around. Any reaction out there?

Many thanks

Nick Welsh