My sister has squamous cell carcinoma on the roof of her mouth/right side. She will be having surgery very soon at MDACC in Houston. I was wondering how long her hospital stay might be, or does it vary depending on the severity of the cancer and the surgery?? Thank you.

You are right to assume that the more extensive the procedure, the longer the stay. But in general, partial maxillectomies do not require extensive hospital time. Most patients are in and out in less than a week. It is important to have a maxillofacial prosthodontist involved before the surgery (Something that a multidisciplinary facility like MDACC has on staff.) This is because after the surgery, your sister will wear a device called an obturator to close up the surgical defect. Proper planning and coordination between these two different kinds of doctors before the surgery yields the optimum final results. MDACC is lucky to have one of the finest maxillofacial prosthodontists on staff, and that is Dr. Rhonda Jacob. I mention all this because the surgery, and the short stay for it, is only the first step in many visits to finally have not only the cancer removed, but also function and esthetics restored to her mouth.