Hi, my name is Jennifer, Iam 35 and my Partner of 19 years Frank (59)was diagnosed with tongue cancer on friday 13th Feb 2009. He was told he would have to half 75% of his tongue removed and would never be able to talk,eat or drink again. Frank had is operation on 6thMarch, there were complications and the 10 hr op lasted 15hours and they had to remove all of Frank's tongue and the lymph nodes from both left and right side of his neck. He is now home from hospital and to the amazment of profs,docs and everybody he is learning to talk again and I can understand 80% of what he is saying and understand phone calls however he cannot eat, drink as his swallow is still bad. he starts radio and chemo treatment in st.lukes hospital dublin next week and they say this could effect his talking, we hope not.

Hi Jennifer.

I am so sorry to read about Frank, but you have come to the right place. There are lots of good and helpful people who have gone through your situation themselves or were carers for someone who did.

When Frank's tongue was removed did his doctors put in any kind of flap? Is there a plan to get him a peg or ng tube so he can eat?

I'm sorry I couldn't answer your questions, but there is someone who can, I'm sure.

Julia

Hi
Rob had his treatment at St.Lukes hospital in Guilford and although his voice got quiet and a bit gravelly he came through ok.Just one word of advice from someone who made this mistake,is try not to make a big thing of understanding,or hearing him when he speaks.Rob (who was a bad tempered buggar any way)got mad as hell with me keep on asking him to repeat himself or speak up,as i had real trouble communicaating with him during and after RT.Get your husband a note book and a pen before his voice deteriorates and avoid anger and frustration creeping in for both of you.It is apparently very painful to talk and you will have some quiet times ahead.

good luck to you both

liz

hi jennifer
i am so pleased you found this site,well frank is doing well after the op and that is great,liz has given you great advice about the notebook because after my radiotherapy i found it difficult to talk plus it hurt to do so and my voice was reduced to a whisper for several weeks and as liz has said you don't need tension between during this time.everyone reacts differently to the treatment some do very well and others struggle for a while and i hope frank does well with it.we are a supportive bunch on hear and if we can we will answer any questions you and frank have and can maybe put your mind at rest.we are one big family on here.please keep us informed on frank's progress and have a good look on previous posts for tips etc. take care love shirl x

Hi Guys, thanks so much for the replies its great to eventually get to talk to people who understand what's going on. Frank has a flap which they took from his chest when they did the op, he had a peg tube inserted 3 weeks post op and cannot drink or eat anything by mouth. We hope they will do another swallow test when his chemo and radio treatment is finished in about 7 weeks time. We have the notepad and pen ready for when the treatment starts. We are going foward now a lot more positive after reading some of the posts on the site and its a great comfort for me to know that if we do run into any problems over the next few weeks there are people here who may be able to give us advice and support

thanks so much
Jen