This is posted for my mother-in-law who is currently in The University of Kentucky's Cancer Treatment Center, post surgery. I know only the basics about her procedure, but she asked me to post here and ask for her a question about her recovery. In her surgery, she had the entire floor of her mouth removed and graphed(sp?) with skin from her arm. She also had a large portion of the left side of her tongue removed. Her lymphnodes(please forgive my spelling) in her neck were also completely removed and found to be free of cancer. All in all, she is in very high spirits and has only one question for now. How long will her tongue stay swollen after her surgery? She is now 7 days post surgery and is looking to be discharged today or before week's end. Her tongue is very swollen and partially protrudes from her mouth. Any replies would be helpful.

Hi JJ,

My mom had her surgery to remove 2/3 of her tongue and part of the palate and lymph nodes on the right side back in April 2003. Her doctor took what was the front of her tongue and made it the side of her tongue because he said if he didn't do that she would have a long tongue that protruded from her mouth. Apparently he told my sister there are two ways that they can do the surgery 1 is cutting out the tumor and leaving the tongue long and thin and the other was taking it and making it short and fat by reversing it in the mouth. The doctor recommended the short fat tongue because he said it was easier speak with that kind of tongue. But I'm sure it depends on where and how extensive the surgery was. She can barely stick her tongue out now. My mom had a traik and was in the hospital for seven days. Once they closed up the traik she remembers that the swelling went down a little everyday from the time they removed the traik. She was able to start eating soft foods right after she left the hospital. Her tongue healed really quick and she was talking almost normal within 1 month and 1 speech therapy session. I don't know if that info will help at all and my spelling is probabley pretty bad but I personally think it helps to get several different experiences from different people because everybody reacts differently.

Danielle