I had 40% of my tongue removed due to tumor and I did not have a free-flap. They made an incision in the floor of my mouth so that the tongue would lay or heal flat. I didn't quite understand it all and it was all done/planned before I found this site. I was able to talk and eat well until radiation. If I can get back to the point of post surgery I would be a very happy camper.

Another thing the doctors(my ENT & RO) were concerned about was that they said my cancer was extremely aggressive and they wanted me in radiation as soon as possible after surgery. My OS and FD told me the opposite when they were like you have time this is a very slow cancer...blah..blah..blah. I knew something was wrong when it from not being seen in April to 4.778cm by July. Most of that growth took place in June/July. If my first two doctors didn't dilly-dally around, it could have been different. I didn't know better to be "AGGRESSIVE" myself and I blame "ME" for that act. I probably could have had the surgery back in June instead of August if I was a different type of patient. It was a tough lesson to learn.

I never discussed this with my doctor(s) but can reconstructive tongue surgery be performed after radiation? (I might start a new topic for this). I had surgery and then 7 weeks of IMRT. I know some people have radiation then surgery and sometimes I wish I took that route. My RO did not recommend it for me, he said the best course of action for my cure was surgery then radiation.