tongue cancer

Posted by earlenhaven @earlenhaven, Aug 14 7:31am

I have been diagnosed with tongue cancer. Lesions about 1 1/2' long and 1/2' deep under the left side of my tongue. I still teach for a living. How long is the shortest recovery that anyone has had?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Head & Neck Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for gareee314 @gareee314

@roblem After my throat surgery they inserted a nose feeder in me too..Being that the tube was smaller it liked to get clogged more often and it was constantly rubbing my soft palate before it went down my gut which caused a blood clot which I hocked up one night..The tip of my soft palate was removed during surgery and that tube rubbing didn't help it to heal..Also the tube going into my nose was sewed up inside my nose so it wouldn't fall out..I finally got them to insert a stomach PEG tube through the stomach wall instead. It's been 4 1/2 years with it due to mucous building up above my palate 24/7 in which it makes it hard to swallow normally. Could that be from the radiation or the 33 lymph nodes removed on the left side of my neck?

Jump to this post

@gareee314
10 years after receiving 35 radiation treatments (2020) my ability to swallow started to degrade. Now 16 years after receiving radiation I cannot swallow, and I am living on a PEG for the last 3 years. I was never warned that I would lose my ability to swallow due to radiation and went through some night fevers due to aspiration. I had lymph nodes removed from the right side of my neck in 2020 when I went through surgery for my 2nd cancer treatment. It is hard to say which cause your swallowing problems. I think you can attribute it to both procedures.

REPLY
Profile picture for kris ohlson @krisohlson

@gareee314
10 years after receiving 35 radiation treatments (2020) my ability to swallow started to degrade. Now 16 years after receiving radiation I cannot swallow, and I am living on a PEG for the last 3 years. I was never warned that I would lose my ability to swallow due to radiation and went through some night fevers due to aspiration. I had lymph nodes removed from the right side of my neck in 2020 when I went through surgery for my 2nd cancer treatment. It is hard to say which cause your swallowing problems. I think you can attribute it to both procedures.

Jump to this post

@krisohlson Thanks for replying back . So I guess once you get radiation you radiate for life..In other words it keeps working on you. My last throat radiation was in 2022 and I noticed my inside upper gums near my teeth or the roof of my mouth gets blistered now and then. This only started less than a year ago. I have had this mucous problem since after radiation which is coming from "above" the roof of my mouth 24/7. I am constantly snorting to get it out. I also use that nasal saline spray that helps getting it to slowly ooze out..Mucous won't come out by blowing my nose because it's thick. It feels like a marble above my soft palate which is obstructing my swallowing even after I get rid of it. I can swallow little gulps of water if I turn my neck to the left. I am seeing a speech therapist for the swallow exercises.

REPLY
Profile picture for kris ohlson @krisohlson

It depends on the treatment. Did you get radiation treatment after surgery? How much?

Jump to this post

@krisohlson Yes. 30 rounds of radiation after surgery. Like I said they inserted that stupid nose feeding tube during surgery which irritated my soft palate from the chafing. I am wondering if that damaged my soft palate and why it's hanging lower than it should even though they removed the tip of it during surgery.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.