My Doctor informed me that I may not be able to work again. I am a estimator for a roofin company and this job requires alot of speaking. A friend suggested I apply for SS disability benefits now
in case I really can't work. My hope is that i can return to work by next spring. Does anyone know about this problem. Please advise. Dan

Hi Dan,
There is a 5 month waiting period from the date of diagnosis. You will need to bring your medical records and birth certificate to your local Social Security office. Your claim will be based on fatigue. You will start recieving checks on the 6th month.

Hi Dan,

I was told that it is possible that they will remove close to 50% of my tongue. Depending on how much is actually removed the surgeon may do a free flap reconstruction. If that is the case I may need some speech therapy. I mention this because as a priest after my concerns about the whole 50% stat thing were set aside my main concern is what kind of impact will all this have on my ability to speak. As a priest there isn't much left for me to do if I can't speak. (Not necessarily true but true enough)

My surgeon's comment was simple: "if we don't have to take out the vocal cords (and there is no reason for us to do that) your speach may be different but you will still be able to speak"

I think there are those here who have experience with learning how to speak again post-op. Hopefully they will be able to share that with you. It is prudent to investigate what you would need to do if you can't speak after the operation (I'm an Eagle Scout and always try to be prepared ;-) )however, I wouldn't resign myself to it. There are many things that can be done for you.

Keep reminding yourself that you will win this fight whatever it takes and that will be the case.

You remain in my prayers.

Peace,

Fr. Mike

hmmm....
I wonder if its valid if I "say" the Mass in sign language.......

I think it's valid if you think the Mass

It is true you have a very good chance of keeping your ability to speak.

Fr. Mike, Dan, I had what they said was 1/3 of one half of my tongue removed, they did the reconstruction, but after 7 days it turned out it didn't take, which after all wound up no big deal. Also following that had rad to the neck and part of the tongue.

Other than having an accent slightly like Homer Simpson for the first week after the surgery, my speech is as clear as ever. (maybe it wasn't all that clear to start with) After a long day my tongue gets tired and speach may be a little slured, but more like hard to pronounce words get more difficult. I've got one of those eastern european family names with a lot of letters and not a lot of vowels, so the worse is trying to pronounce that in late afternoons. But, my limited Chinese is still understandable.

So, hopefully the speach problem shouldn't be a big factor over time. Could be worse, Fr Mike, could still be doing the mass in Latin
Bob S.

Speech, except in the case of a total glossectomy is not often mentioned as a serious issue with the people I routinely talk to in hospitals etc. Seems like it would be different, but most end up with minor impediments like lisps etc. For some speech therapy is useful, others just charge right through this. The biggest issue I hear of is controlling what is left to move to bolus of chewed food to the back of the mouth for swallowing, which takes a little practice to master, along with some slower eating habits which wouldn