 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 | Johnny,
The free flap isn't so bad, really! Compared to radiation, its a piece of cake. For me, the most painful part was the site on my thigh where the skin graft was taken to cover the donor site on my forearm. That stung like a !@#$%. But once the swelling on my tongue went down, I was able to speak and eat very normally.
Don't sell yourself short. You got through it all once, you do have it in you to do it again!
- Margaret
Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018
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