I recently learned of a young woman (early 20's) in my town who has oral cancer. Mutual friends made me aware since our cancers are very simlar (SCC, base of tongue). I had been texting her for the last couple of months and just had the pleasure of meeting her today.

My Stage 2 cancer was discovered in 4/05 and I had a tongue reconstruction, jaw-split, lymph nodes, removed, etc... Callie and I talked a long time about the surgery and what she might expect. But, her cancer is much worse than mine and she's going to have a lot more of her tongue removed. She's in the middle of chemo to shrink the tumor and will have surgery to remove it on 9/11/08.

When I had my surgery, these boards were invaluable. I couldn't believe all the support. It was so comforting. Now, I really need your help again. Callie asked me some questions today I couldn't answer and I know folks here will have the answers she needs. She's a young, single Mom and doesn't have a computer, so she can't research and post easily herself.

Unlike me, Callie has been told she'll be coming home with a feeding tube and her trache in place. I could swallow before I left the hospital, so came home with neither. I'll post more in the other forums, but I really need some information on what she can expect when she comes home. Right now, she really doesn't know how much of her tongue she'll lose...we're hoping for 50% or less, but really won't know until that day. She has been told she'll be able to swallow with her new tongue in the future.

I know about the jaw-split, grafts, and that kind of thing. But, I really don't know if she'll be able to talk with the trache once she gets home. And, what kind of maintenance with the feeding tube.

Any info any of you have would be greatly appreciated and I will pass it all on to Callie.

Thanks!!
Jennifer