I was opearted 12 days ago with partial glossectomy+Modified Radical Neck Dissection fora SCC of tongie which was 1.2 mm x 1.3mm x 12 mm deoth with no nodal involvement.
Drain has been out now; I have a few questions: 1) The neck incision is healing well and now becoming almost "tight", so I try to turn my neck to the opposite side to sort of stretch it:Is this common? 2) There is real numbness on the right side of neck(operated side) with the entire ear numb. Will this goaway? as the surgeon has done a clean job , I feel and preserved all neeeded nerve structures.
3)THE MOST IMPORTANT: When I speak ,which has gotten much better in the past 10 days, I want to say it's alisp:But it is more than that: Sounds like certain letters are missin ,as in saying "hotdog" or "headlights". Will this improve :I ampost 13 days Surgery.
Thank you and God bless!

Hi FlyngMD

Remember, these are very early days, and you've been through quite an ordeal. I had pretty much the same procedure as you. Oh, yeah: WELCOME!

Stretching exercises for your neck is a very good thing to do, but try not to over exert your neck muscles. My dissection was on the left side five years ago and it's still numb--as is the site on my arm where my flap was harvested. Nerves are strange things and are really unpredictable when they're cut. Speech will most likely improve, but it might take some work. You said you had a partial glossectomy. Did you also have a resection? I was silent for a month post-op (didn't seem prudent to talk with a tongue full of sutures), but when I started up again, no one had much trouble understanding me, and I think that the flap made a lot of difference.

Are you taking anything by mouth or are you using an ng tube or a peg?

Let us know how things go for you.

Julia

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Julia,

Hi, Flying MD

Your op sounds similar to mine. Did you have a tracheotomy? And, like Julia asks, do you have a PEG tube? I had both. But I didn't have a flap like Julia did.

My operation was over two years ago, now. My neck and ear were numb for a while but I have all sensation back now. I have also lost all tightness in my neck. I still have a bit of a numbness in my tongue and sometimes feel that my speech is not quite right, particularly when I am tired (slurring a bit) but no-one else seems to notice this at all.

What I found was that things gradually got better. There was a bit of discomfort in my neck for a bit while the sensation was coming back and my GP prescribed me amitriptyline for this. Didn't last too long, though. So it seems that it is different for different people.

Anyway welcome to the forum. I hope you continue to feel better all the time.

Very best wishes

Gwyn