Hello,
I am looking for some advice from someone who may have experienced this..
I had a large part of my tongue removed a week ago on the left hand side and on the underside of my tongue only, to remove a tumour and to gain the margins required.
Top part of tongue is unaffected.
The gland on the left hand side of neck swells during eating and is painful, but goes down afterwards is this normal following this type of surgery.?
There also is slight swelling there when not eating I presume this is due to the surgery.
I appreciate that I only had the surgery on the 07th of October.
Any feedback would be great.
Thanks Ian
Hi Ian. A warm welcome to the group and glad you’ve found us but sorry you had to.
Where does it swell. Under your chin or under your ear?
it sounds like your submandibular salivary gland which is under your chin. The duct from this gland opens under your tongue and it might have been damaged during surgery. So when you eat the saliva has nowhere to go.
I would get in touch with your specialist nurse to pass on the information to your surgeon. It might be temporary or it might need attention. In either case I think you should get in touch.
I think it sounds brilliant that you are eating already and hope your recovery continues.
Do pop back if you need any more help. We are a friendly bunch.
Let us know how you get on.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
Hi Ian, it could all be down to your recovery as it must not be very comfortable trying to eat so soon after surgery as the nerves and muscles will still be recovering from surgery, maybe its worth trying liquid food supplements for a while to help relieve the pain. As Dani said it might be worthwhile contacting one of your team just for peace of mind dont struggle or fight the pain as there are good painkillers available from your G.P or through your consultant. I hope you manage to get some relief from the dis-comfort, best wishes.
Chris
Its sometimes not easy but its worth it !
Fortisips or Ensures are the usual ones. You should be able to get them on prescription from your GP as they are expensive to buy. A small 200ml bottle gives you 400 Calories so they are pretty useful.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
You should be able to get Ensure, fortisips etc ,as Dani said you should get them on prescription, it will save you a lot of hassle trying to swallowing and chewing, good luck.
Its sometimes not easy but its worth it !
