What to expect?

Good evening Nannyto4, welcome to the head and neck group, sorry to hear about your husbands' issues, its good to read that he is going for tests and biopsies as hopefully, they will give the consultant some idea what is happening. I have had quite a few biopsies and only one of them was painful afterwards, this was on my lower gum and jaw, so i did need painkillers for this one but the others were all ok maybe a bit sore or uncomfortable but nothing nasty. The results normally take two weeks on average, maybe sooner if you are lucky. I had one done on the floor of my mouth so very close to the tongue and to be honest i cannot remember any pain,  a bit of soreness and maybe stitches needed to stop any bleeding. He should feel normal in a couple of days but might have to eat lighter foods like soups until it's healed up enough. In some cases, people are not affected and just carry on. It just depends on what they do and how much they do but as i said before biopsies are normally ok . You should get some more relies tomorrow from the rest of the lovely people on here, please do not apologise for the questions as we will try and answer them as its all new to you and your husband, all the best, take care.

                                                               Chris x

Hi Nannyto4

I had the back of my tongue biopsied and was in a little pain and a bit bruised for about a week. Don't be surprised if the sides of his tongue are  blue with bruising. Results are usually through in two weeks. Every hospital has what are called Multidisciplinary Teams made up of all sorts of doctors; Surgeons, Oncologists, Radiologists as well as support staff like Clinical Nurse Specialists. These MDTs meet once a week generally to discuss the best way forward for each patient so his next appointment will be after his team meet to discuss the results.

Best of luck and do come back if you need any more help. No question is daft and no worry unfounded. We are all here for you

Hi Nannyto4

Rather than repeat what Danni has said I've had 2 biopsies on the tongue and she is spot on.  May be worth getting some soft foods in such as soups and maybe some Complan.  I found things like mince fairly easy to eat after 4 or 5 days and by day 10 I was back to normal.

Hi all. Thanks for replying. How do you manage to wait 2 weeks to find out your results? Sounds like torture to me.

Early night tonight as we've got to get up at 4am. Hospital is an hours drive away & he has to be there for 7am. Its going to be hard stuck at home waiting & not knowing what's going on but not as hard (or scary) as it's going to be for Dave.

Once again, thank you & love to all,

Tris. 

Unknown said:

How do you manage to wait 2 weeks to find out your results? Sounds like torture to me.

Hi again. You just do. It’s all about waiting. Keep busy and take a day at a time. Trust his  team to do the best for him. They are good  at it. Tap your GP for sleeping pills if he  can’t sleep. 

Hi nannyto4 the waiting’s the worst part. Keep  yourself snd Dave busy is best advise.  Watch box sets go out for a walk see family. There’s a protocol the hospitals have to do snd you can’t rush them. Good luck for tomorrow and here’s hoping you don’t need us on here. But either way keep in touch. My biopsy was tonsillar snd to be honest had it at 1300 in theatre 1 hours released at 6pm ate tea  ok it was soup  m by 7 pm. Took the painkillers as directed. 
good luck 
Hazel 

I hope it goes well for both of you today.  Waiting is the worst part, but it is better to wait and have a good and accurate result/plan than act in haste and regret later on.  At the end of the day the wait does not reduce the changes of successful treatment.

Partners have probably the worst time of all caring for someone, but not really feeling in control of what is happening.  Remember to take care of yourself.

Thank you Peter but I don't matter in all of this, Dave is the one that will more than likely have to go through all the crappy treatment,

           Tris