Hi folks. I'm a seasoned citizen, still active as a consultant (business coach) with a thriving national (mostly over the phone and computer) consulting practice. My voice is my livelihood. I was just diagnosed (Oct 28) with a tumor in the base of my tongue. Biopsy will be done on Oct 31 (Talk about spooky!). I'm quite worried about after-treatment loss of speech capability. I would appreciate any advice y'all who have been through this can give me. Thanks.

Glad you are here, Fred. You've come to the best place for the very latest researched information and compassionate help from people who have been where you are. Usually the base of tongue area has a very high treatment success rate and I'm sure you will hear from others who have had similar experiences to yours. It's good you are getting the biopsy very soon so you will be able to know what's really happening and can start doing something about it. My son had Squamous Cell Cancer on the underside, right side of his tongue and although he had to have a portion of his tongue removed, it was only a very short time that affected his speech. His job (as software developer) requires a lot of phone consulting, too and has no problems with speech at all. And almost five years later, he's doing great!

Thanks, Anne-Marie. Very reassuring.

Hi Coach. Our cancers are as individual as we are, and your speaking ability will depend on what treatment is prescribed. There is no way to tell how well you will speak until after all of that is finished. After my 1st surgery, people told me I spoke with a "lisp" but they had removed about 1/2 my tongue. After my 2nd surgery where they removed most of what was left, I now speak like someone who does not have hearing ability. But, we do what we have to do to stay alive.

Having said all this about me, I know others who have had EXTENSIVE surgeries (like Christine) who speak very well and very clearly.

Looking forward to your further posts. Good luck with your biopsy - hope you get the results soon - waiting is hell!!

Donna

Fred

A major factor in your post TX speech will be whether or not you need surgery. Very often base of tongue tumors are treated with radiation and chemo with zero surgery. If that is the case, then your speech will probably return to normal (although you may lose your voice at somepoint during TX).
If you need surgery, results vary, with some very good and others not so much. Post surgery,a speech therapist can help tremendously.
Charm

Hi Fred! From experience, I can tell you that when someone talks for a living, it usually makes articulation after treatments a little easier. I formerly worked in a large call center for the telephone company. My grammar and articulation needed to be perfect. Even after several surgeries, and without teeth my speech is very good. One thing to remember thru all of this, everyone is different. What worked for me was that my tongue never had surgery so that is what made a huge difference in my situation. I think your profession will help make it easier for you to quickly return to normal speech.

If you end up needing surgery, get a referral for a Speech-Language Pathologist who has experience with head and neck cancer and have a pre-surgical consult. He/she will be privvy to the surgical plan and be able to tell you what to expect and give you some exercises and tips to see you through the surgery portion - then afterwards, if necessary, you're already hooked up with someone who knows you, your case and your goals to help you get back to where you need to be!

Best of luck Coach!

Fred:
Your surgical Team probably has a referal or two for great speech therapists. I started seeing one (With an office located in my Surgeons office) immediately following my treatments and the exercises and techniques she gave me had me talking, eating, and swallowing very well again in a relative short amount of time. In my line of work I am constantly coaching (Speaking) and the first couple of years would be literally exhausting after a solid day of work but nobody (Except me being my own worst critic) could pick up on my speech issues. As mentioned earlier, everyone's different but there's lot's of assistance out there.
Best Regards,
Steve