August,

My mom just had surgery because the radiation fried her jaw bone and then her jaw broke so they did remove her fibula from the lower leg along with the blood supply and other tissue. They connected the veins etc to the opposite side of her face that did not have radiation so she is going to be brand new and if the cancer ever recurred she would be able to have radiation again because everything in the radiated area is new. She is 2 1/2 weeks out of surgery and already feeling a lot better than she has since the completion of radiation over 2 1/2 years ago.
Her leg looks pretty yucky right now but she can already walk (with a limp) and it just needs to be covered for another month and then it will be able to go uncovered and heal. Her doctors say she will not be able to hop anymore but its a small price to pay for no more pain and suffering and infections because of the hole in her mouth that continuosly had problems. She had her surgery in Los Angeles at UCLA. Her doctors and the nurses and the reconstructive surgeon were awesome. Her face was cut into a lot but she looks really good all things considered. The reconstructive surgeon does many of these surgeries he came highly recommended and his sucess rate is very high...I think it's 98%. I know that Minnie has also had a similar surgery too. As far as quality of life goes I am definately for the surgery. My mom hated having to carry around a syringe to flush out the hole after everything she ate and drank. She is sooo much better now and I know that as time passes she will only continue to improve.

Take Care,
Dani