Charm

They removed my tongue from the back forward and my flap is sewn down to the floor of my mouth so it does not move like a tongue. It sounds like Stephanie's is different from mine and I hope that yours is too. You will probably be able to eat more than I will. They would not even let me drink water for two weeks after my surgery to make sure that the flap took. Then I was allowed water for the first day only, clear liquids from there.

I started therapy about 2 weeks after they released me from the hospital and I am still going now. Pre-radiation I had worked up to almost oatmeal. You will be fortunate to not have to go through radiation again. I had to stop therapy for 2 weeks near the end of rad. Now I am having some difficulties post radiation with swallowing, the stiffness in my neck and it feels as if my throat has constricted. I have been doing lots of stretching exercises but I am still getting stiff. (ENT appointment tomorrow) Right now I can swallow cream soups, cream of wheat, yogurt and pudding if I thin them down a bit.

When I first was released to liquids in the hospital they sent a swallow therapist in to my room. She had applesauce and pudding with her which I was no where near capable of doing then. When I told her that I did not think that I could do the applesauce just yet, she left the room and came back with a Xerox copy of about 15 pages of total glossectomy data that basically said that I would not swallow again and left. It's a good thing I did not listen to her.

Patty