Good Morning Everyone!
My husband was diagnosed with tongue cancer a few weeks ago (T2, N1). He is scheduled for surgery on Thurs. Feb. 13. They estimate to remove approx. 3/4 of his tongue and do a neck dissection as well. He will also have reconstruction done during the same surgery using a "flap" from his forearm. We would appreciate any advice, info, inspiration, etc...
This has all happened extremely fast! He is only 30, we have a six-month old son, and things seem a little surreal still. I lost my mother 6 years ago to breast cancer, so this is a familiar road. I am so thankful I've found this group! It has been a blessing so far. Thank you in advance for your thoughts. Have a blessed day!

Cameltchr,
I know you will be receiving many posts of support. This is a fantastic site. Visit often and ask a lot of questions of the members here. Also, look around the site for other posts.
My husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 base of tongue cancer. He had a radical neck disection and a small part of his tongue removed. Also had 33 treatments of radiation with chemo. As with your husband he is young and was extremely healthy. Never touched a cigarette, so all of it hit us also like a Mack truck. The good news (and I consider our family extremely blessed by this) is that after about 5 months post treatments, he is terrific. Eating, talking, jogging, skiing. As many of the members here will attest, you can beat this!
Looking back, I must admit there were many very scary moments. But you learn to take it one day at a time. I think what helped me the most was an absolutely unshakeable faith that we would survive this. So, stay positive!
As far as his surgery goes, I have no idea if this is applicable to your case, but only after several discussions with our ENT surgon, we discovered that he (the doc) did not have to break his jaw and go in from the front to access his tongue. He was able to access the part of the tongue he needed through the neck disection. It was a relief to us. It may be worth asking your doc.
We all wish you the best and are in our prayers. Keep us posted.
BC

Cameltchr,

My mother was diagnosed with stage 2 tongue cancer in June 02 and had one third tongue exised and a neck dissection in July. She was 84 at the time and came through the whole thing very well. She's now pretty much good as ever.

Surreal is a good word for the weeks before the surgery...and scary. We were in shock that my mother, who never smoked or drank, would develop oral cancer at this late stage in her life. In fact, at that point, we have never even heard of anyone with cancer of the tongue! We've learned a lot since then, especially from this forum and other parts of the OCF website.

Waiting is terrible for the patient and the caregiver. My mother was able to cope by taking Xanax. It took the edge off that all-consuming fear that comes over you periodically.

Your husband is young and strong and is in a good position to lick this thing. You can gain a great deal of strength from others on the forum who have been through this and are here to tell their tales and offer advice.

We are in western NC. Where in NC is your husband having his surgery?