@cwanczyk They ended up removing less than half my tongue and did not rebuild it as he felt it would be better to let it fill in. Due to the size of the tumor did a radical neck dissection and removed hundreds of lymph nodes - found no cancer in any of them so no chemo or radiation recommended. However, during the surgery my lymphatic system was nicked and had a chyle leak, spent eight days in the hospital instead of an overnight and was able to get the leak stopped with pressure patches, bed rest, and a no fat diet. Went in and had it drained once, that helped with the swelling. It has been almost three months now and still have soft tissue damage on my neck, and it helps to continue to keep it wrapped with an ace bandage. That helps with the swelling and when it swells it causes pain in my jaw and up into my ear. He says soft tissue damage will take a long time to heal. I am also noticing a lot of mucus and that is irritating. I also have a lot of scar tissue under my tongue that is causing it to pull to the side, so am now trying to break it lose with exercises. But all in all, it could be much worse so I can deal with this. Hope this helps and also hope you have good news. Have a great Thanksgiving with your special ones.