I've been in a LOT of pain for the last 2 1/2 months that narcotics won't touch. I had another biopsy last month, thankfully, all clear, however, the biopsy showed chronic inflammation and epithelial changes.

I was in to see my doctor again today for follow up, and he stated (and I agree - because this was my guess all along!) that the big tough scar band that runs along my inner cheek from the roof of the mouth to the floor is rubbing on my old incision site on the base of the tongue, and that constant friction is causing the pain and swelling.

He is suggesting that I have that part of my tongue treated with lasers to resurface the area, have the scar tissue band removed, and repaired with a skin graft.

Has anyone else had any experience with this? What kind of discomfort should I expect? Frankly - I figure it can't be worse than the pain I'm constantly in right now...

I'd love to hear if anyone else can share their experiences with this type of revision/repair/resurfacing!

Thanks!
Lisa

Hello Lisa:
Haven't heard of this type of revision/repair/resurfacing, but I'm sure you'll be hearing from others. This procedure, being done by lasers instead of surgery (cutting), sounds promising. Is your doctor an ENT or oral surgeon, or what kind of doctor is he? He sound like he knows what will solve your problem - you're lucky, I go to doctors for problems and they sometimes act addled (is that a word?). Anyway, hope others can give you their experiences and you will get relief soon.
julieann

Lisa,

I don't have experience with "laser resurfacing" however the scar tissue/skin grafts I've been through.

After my mandiblectomy and flap surgery, part of my tongue was anchored to the floor of my mouth by scar tissue and I had some areas inside my mouth (along the gumline) that were pulled too tightly and caused severe pain. To remedy the issues when I had my nerve graft procedure, my surgeon also performed a couple of skin grafts using tissue from the hip. They clipped the scar tissue that anchored my tongue and then grafted the tissue from my hip into the inside of my mouth. It worked wonderfully, relieved pain, freed my tongue, helping to improve some function (which would eventually be lossed due to the nerve graft as they used the nerve that controlled half my tongue to try to reinvervate my facial nerve)...overall it was a success and I'm glad I had the entire procedure done.

Hope that helps, keep your chin up.

Eric

Thanks Eric! That sounds promising! Being free from pain would be nice...

How was your recovery from your procedure? How long before you felt well? How long before the graft harvest site healed up? How long were you in the hospital?

I'm a little worried about my speech slipping, but my surgeon has me seeing my speech therapist before the surgery to start planning for rehab right away.
Lisa

Hi Julieann

As I understand it, the laser will only be used on my tongue, but old fashioned cutting will remove the scar band.

My doctor is a DMD, MD who specializes in head and neck surgical oncology at MD Anderson.
Lisa

Lisa,

I was in the hospital for a day after surgery then sent home. Understand though that the main surgery I had was a C VII-XII switch nerve graft where they peeled back half my face, drilled into my skull and yarded a cranial nerve out of my head to graft into my facial nerve.

The skin graft in my mouth and harvest site was a piece of cake. I have a slight scar on my hip but it was fine. Pain wise I spent a week using NSAIDs and 5mg oxycodone tabs and I was good to go. I had to make adjustments w speech and eating short term but both are/were effected anyways.

I think just the skin grafts would be a piece of cake, but everyone's different .

Good luck

Eric

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the feedback! I'm most worried about my speech, and I have a speech therapy consult set up for a week before the surgery. I talk (constantly!) for my job and I'm a bit of a workaholic, so I am worried that changing the contour of my mouth will change the way I can communicate - as I'm sure many of us have, I've worked up my own unique set of accommodations to make close to the right sounds after my hemiglossectomy - but I'll probably have to figure out new ways to cope with the changes once they happen.

My doctor said two days "or so" of hospitalization. He knows by now that I'm not a big fan of being in the hospital, so I know he'll get me out as soon as he can. I'm trying to guess how many days I'll need to be off of work - at first I figured I could do the surgery on Friday and be back by Monday, but in the light of day that is now sounding ambitious!

Lisa