Cosmo,
My 1st surgery removed a small portion of tongue and a few lymph nodes on right side. ENT was overcaustious and 2 weeks later needed a little more of tongue removed. 4 months later it was back. This time I got to a Cancer Care Center.A month later(day before Thanksgiving) they removed most of the tongue and put in a flap which was made from left forearm. (A flap replaces the area they removed. It looks like your tongue but doesn't move,the remainder of real tongue has to work harder to move the whole thing. It has no taste buds and mine doesn't have feeling.) Also removed all lymph nodes from right neck, all negative. Had chemo and radiation. One positive node from left neck removed. After the surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center I couldn't talk or eat for a few days. Talking came back pretty quick - can't shut me up for too long - but eating took longer. I had speech therapy for awhile which not only helped with speaking but with swallowing and tongue exercises. Started on shakes,pureed foods and soft food. Was getting the hang of eating then radiation messed that up and I had to use a Peg feeding tube for a few months. Now I'm drinking shakes, smoothies and can eat soft veggies, cheerios, potato salad and a few other things. Very surprisingly, I didn't lose too much taste. I thought between losing so many taste buds from tongue missing and radiation killing some that I wouldn't taste anything, but I can taste just about everything. The neck dissection to remove lymph nodes wasn't so bad for me either. The surgeon was great and the scar kind of blends in with the folds of the neck. I have full movement with a little numbness. If you have movement problems you can get physical therapy to help. As wilckdds(Jerry) said none of have the exact same responses to treatment but I hope this helped a little. Keep us posted on when surgery is and how things are going.