Worried about tongue after partial glossectomy

Hi KitiKat 

I can only go by what happened to my neighbour a year after my treatment ended (who on earth would think that two neighbours would have tongue cancer?) She also had a partial resection ...it means removing surgically. Her tongue was very bumpy and looked as you describe yours ...awful. I know because she asked me to look as she was too frightened to. 

It won't do any harm to get somebody to look at it if you are worried especially if you might need antibiotics, or you have thrush if you already are taking them. What mouthwash are you using? I was encouraged to use chlorhexedine once a day to keep my mouth clean.

Hope you can be seen pretty quickly

Good evening KitiKat, i had part of my tongue removed during my first operation but because i had a PEG feeding tube fitted it never had to struggle with swallowing, i have never looked inside my mouth even though it was nearly 15 years ago although i remember my consultant saying about the white lumps plus it was very sore but the painkillers helped. I find it hard to believe that after a few days, the cancer has returned but as Dani said please get it looked at as you should be seen every two weeks to begin with. I would not have a clue what im looking at but your consultant will have seen many different sights and im sure he/she will do their best to reassure you. Good luck with the phone call tomorrow, you should be seen very quickly. Take care.

                                                                                                          Chris x

Hi Dani thanks for your reply. It's reassuring to know your neighbours tongue looked like mine. I don't blame her for not wanting to look. It's so upsetting. I spoke to my Macmillan Nurse today and she said the white lumps are normal and show that it's healing. I'd still like someone to look at it though for peace of mind so I'll call her tomorrow. I wasn't given any info on mouthwashes but I've been using diluted corsadyl and diluted peroxyl I think it's called, by Colgate. I've also been rinsing with warm salt water throughout the day.

Those mouth washes sound fine. If you are brushing with a toothpaste that has SLS in it it reduces the effect of corsodyl so make sure they are half an hour apart. 

Hi Chris thank you for your reply. It sounds like the white lumps are normal but I'll still get it checked out tomorrow if I can otherwise I'll have to wait til Thursday when I have my stitches removed. My Consultant looked at my tongue last Thursday on my final day in hospital and didn't say anything so hopefully it looked OK. When I said my tongue looked like it was cancerous, I didn't mean I thought the cancer had returned, I just meant the appearance of it looks like there's cancer. I was fortunate that my cancer was very small, T1. I went into hospital with a tongue that looked fine apart from a very small ulcer and came out with a tongue that looks diseased. I know in my head I've done the right thing with the surgery but when I look at the state of it I do wonder if I have. 

KitiKat said:

I know in my head I've done the right thing with the surgery but when I look at the state of it I do wonder if I have. 

I’m sure you have. My neighbour had quite a chunk removed but she didn’t need any reconstruction and avoided radiotherapy which is a blessing. Three years later she just has a slight lisp. 

Hope you are feeling better after your surgery on your tongue.