Hi Christine.
I have asked Tony who his specialist is in his thread. And I did read the above post from him.
After the 1st op. My sister was able to talk and eat almost 100% normal after only 3days. And we felt with time she would recover completely. But then the new lumps appeared and she had the second op so there was no time for speech therapy.
Currently her Tongue is sewn to her cheek to let the graft flap grow and will be detached next week. She is able to talk but it's like someone talking with a mouthfull of food. Until the Tongue is detatched from her cheek we don't know how what etc Dr ... did say that she may need speech therapy.

we are seeing an oncologist this week so that's one more for the list. and her gp has been very good too.
I can see that Tony, being treated in a hospital ( I wonder if he was a public or private patient) the team ( as such ) is in one place, whereas my sister specialist has his own practice and the oncologist we're seeing is also a private facility. I don't have any idea if one is better than the other.

I have a link to the facility. Should I post it here or go to the current treatment forum to get some thoughts!
Is this how many of you started out? It seemed simple enough when we found out. it's cancer but it's localised and it's a case of cutting it out. And from all the posts I've read here it just seem to get worse. I'm one of those ppl who want to know the stats so I can prepare myself mentally to help her through it.
Thanks for your advice guys.

The Royal Perth Hospital is well known in Perth. It's one of a few that has

Hmmm, I've just re read dr.. Bio and it turns out he's a consultant surgeon, Dept of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Royal Perth Hospital (where Tony had his surgery) . He is a supervisor of Basic Surgical Training and ENT Training at Royal Perth Hospital.
But I'll still keep an eye out after her Tongue is detach from her cheek and ask for a referal for a second opinion.
Mary

Having you for a caregiver gives your sister a big "leg up" on fighting this beast. To answer your question, it is the radiation that makes it so difficult to swallow. I didn't have surgery, had rad and chemo. The radiation basically cooks everything in it's path, it's like a microwave oven ( I know that sounds terrible but we do what's necessary to beat cancer) and I had to have a feeding (PEG) tube as I could barely swallow water, so if radiation is decided , get her to eat as much as she can of everything she likes, It may be a while before she can eat anything again. For some it's a couple of months, for me it was 18 months of nothing but Ensure Plus and fruit smoothies. But then, I was 60 years old when all this started. Her youth will, hopefully, wo9rk in her favor as she recovers.

Hi again Mary,
It must be fate that you and Tony registered virtually at the same time. You now have so much more information regarding the "team" that is looking after Tony at the hospital where you both live. You need to take a deep breath now..as you both have a lot of information to digest. I will be checking for your posts and hope all goes well when your sisters tongue is detached this week.
Love and best wishes
Gabriele