New here and realizing I should have put my previous message in this forum column, so please forgive the redundancy:

Reaching out to say hello and share a little optimism.
In 2021, I was diagnosed with SCC stage 3. I had my entire oral tongue and part of my base tongue removed. I was on a feeding tube for a full year with limited speech and saliva, and aspiration challenges. I thought I would only be able to eat pureed foods for the rest of my life, and was seriously considering looking into disability because of my inability to verbally communicate effectively. It was bad. Almost 4 years later, I’m happy to say my speech has improved dramatically, I work and communicate full time, and I can now eat all foods with the aid of an assistive eating tool. The assistive eating tool allowed me to move food off of my tongue and towards my teeth for chewing and towards my throat for swallowing, which in turn caused what remaining tongue muscle I had left to become strong. Same for swallowing, the more I ate, the stronger my throat muscles became. By eating, I was basically exercising the tongue and throat muscles and keeping them from atrophy. I invented the tool so I could eat, and because I couldn't find anything out there for us. If you want more info, feel free to connect with me. There is hope-- we are resilient, and the body is wondrous.
Sending hugs to those who need them.
Angilee

My mouth feels like I have a marshmallow stuck in my right cheek. The tongue is so large that I can’t get my dentures in. I am 2 months out from surgery and will start radiation in 2 weeks. My surgeon told me at the one month post surgery appointment that my tongue swelling would gone down. And then last week he wasn’t as optimistic. I can only say a few words that people can understand and my eating is limited to applesauce, pudding, and mashed potatoes. When I try to drink liquids it comes back up through my nostrils. I’ve been on a PEG tube for 2 months. I would be interested in how you overcame your obstacles and developed exercises for chewing and swallowing. Also, I’d like to hear from others who have a tongue that is too large.