Good afternoon. I'm hoping someone can help me make sense of some info my mother recieved from the oral surgeon yesterday.

She is 1 year post-op for resection of squamous cell lesion on her soft palate. She has been unable to have an obturator fitted well enough to prevent reflux and speech changes.

Now the surgeon is recommending reconstruction using tissue from the roof of the mouth over the hard palate rotated back and attached to the soft palate tissue to cover the defect.

We have a lot of questions re:results of this surgery (swallowing & speech); recovery; why he would choose this approach rather than a forearm skin graft & probably a lot of other questions we don't even know enough to ask.

My mother is 75 yrs old and not a good surgical candidate so this is not an easy decision for her.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi Jlb,

You ask a difficult question in deed!!! It really is up to your team of Doctors to determine the best course. They should answer any and all of your questions and concerns. Write down all your questions ahead of time and have the Doctor address them one by one. I don't know how I would feel about that type of surgery at 75 years of age? Hope you make your decision based on knowledge of what to expect after the surgery.

Dan

Thanks for the response. Nice to know it's not just me who thinks this is a tough one. I am meeting with another surgeon tomorrow to ask some questions again. I would like to know if patients typically do experience significant improvement w/swallowing & speech. Data I have pulled from medical journals is encouraging, but everyone is unique.

Hi, I have had a lot of reconstruction surgery, but to floor of mouth and jaw. What you describe, and this is only a guess on my part, looks like the simple and easiest way to do this. I do know from experience that the mouth will grow tissue back quickly. So the place where they removed the flesh will grow back. I had nothing on the floor of my mouth because of a failed flap, where the open bone was sticking up even covered itself, this suprised me.Wrist flaps more difficult.

Thanks so much for the info - it helps to have any little bit when you are in the info gathering stage. The procedure sounds incredibly painful (though pain is relative after a certain point). Do you have any comments re: pain & recovery. Consider that my mother is 75 yrs and not in great health, so my maternal instincts are taking over. At least I want her to know what she is facing and make her decisions based on the complete information.

It shouldn't be painful. Pain management is a major part of cancer treatment and a basic patient right.

As a former nurse I will tell you that no patient should have a pain rating of higher than #3 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being exruciating. It is a big impediment to the healing process and unnecessary. Pain should not be an issue. Pain management is.
Judy