Hey, MM.....Here's August.....Your surgery sounds almost identical to mine. I had SCC undiscovered for at least 8 months on my gum on the right maxilla, and since it had plenty of time to percolate, it spread along that gumline, and onto the inner side of the gums, and onto my hard palate. I lost the bone (the maxilla) and the five teeth in it (would have been six, exc. that I had long ago had my wisdom tooth removed...) and about half of my hard palate on that side. I lost all the bone and teeth from the back toward the front. I still have my four incisors. Most people can't tell that I have had any surgery, and I can ...and do!...eat anything I want. Since I have my incisors, I can eat sandwiches, burgers, corn on the cob, bbq'd ribs....I am very lucky. I did have a neck dissection, since the cancer had been present and overlooked for so long, but those nodes were clear. You will need liquids at first...I preferred Boost....but my situation was a little different, in that my post-surgical appliance wasn't well made, and my teeth didn't meet, so I don't know how soon I might have been able to chew otherwise.

I did not have chemo or radiation, and I am cancer-free after nearly 3 1/2 years.

Please feel free to send me an email or a PM. First, however, I think you can get lots of info from my past posts. Ask me anything. It is an odd surgery, and I was depressed and upset for a long time afterward, but I am a singer, and I sing again, and I am a public speaker and a teacher, and I do fine with that also.

There are several reconstructive procedures available, but obviously you are not considering them at this time. I think that it is generally advisable to wait a while to be certain that you are cancer-free.

If you have clear margins and negative neck nodes, you will likely not have to have radiation. I hope that is the case for you.

As a comfort, I will share that my surgeon told me that SCC in this location is more easily removed than from other locations with more soft tissue involvement. I hope that's true!

You will be fine. You will find that after you adjust, you can live just fine with the obturator, and if you don't ever feel comfortable with it, the surgeries are quite successful.

Good Luck! don't hesitate to write after you read some of my other posts.

XO--Colleen