Flap or no flap? And neck dissection or not?

Thank you. Do you know how many CM was removed? 

not sure - scar is down the whole length of my tongue. Visually you can see that side is considerably narrower than the other.

Good evening Helen Ann, i had neck dissections and flaps when i had head and neck cancers although mine were to do with my lower jaw, floor of the mouth, and removal of the voice box. My flap was taken from my forearm and skin grafts were taken from my leg and stomach,my neck dissection was done during my first operation. I cannot comment on the tongue area as i did not have any skin grafts done in this area. I went with skin grafts, flap, and dissection as i was not given another option but times and techniques have changed in 16 years. Wishing you all the best, take care.

                                                                         Chris x

Hi Helen Ann. I have had 2 neck dissections at different times. My issue was jaw cancer so not the same as yours. I found both neck dissections fairly easy ops and was only in hospital 2 days until the drains were taken out. The first neck dissection was part of my bigger op a mandibulectomy. The second was a stand alone op. For this one I had a quick recovery although it took a few weeks for me to be able to raise my arm above my head. I now have nearly full range of my shoulder. However in that time it did not stop me from doing my day to day tasks and I worked around it. It didn't stop me from driving the car. The main issue now is a change of sensation in my neck and a feeling of tightness.

Wishing you all the best. It is a difficult decision to make so you definitely need all the facts to help with this.

Lyn

It's all in my profile.  They think my immune system dealt with the fist 2 tumours.  The 3cm (on the second occurrence) was to provide a good margin. 

The Dr's finds me an enigma but say they have learned a lot from my pathway through this. Hopefully this time they have eradicated it! One year since starting CRT on the third reappearance and over 5 years since first diagnosed. 

Hi Helen, I’m a 59 yr old man who is reasonable fit and active, I’m not sure how much this will help but… I was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma on the 21st October. The consultant after two biopsies in my mouth, an ultrasound guided biopsy of a lymph node and a further of a lump on my thyroid, a CT scan and an MRI, said “I can confirm you have cancer in your mouth and your lymph nodes… But I intend to operate with a view to it being a cure”. My cancer was more in my mouth than my tongue, they call it something like buccall mucosa. 
I was admitted for surgery on the 30th October where during a 13 hr Op they removed 6 teeth, cut out the cancerous area, repaired with a free flap from my wrist, with neck dissection to remove the lymph nodes and splice in the free flap vein, my wrist was repaired with a piece from my hip.

I can understand how you feel although I didn’t really have time to worry as I was admitted so soon after diagnosis. My biggest fear was the pain I would be in after the Op, but I can honestly say it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Yes there are issues that although mentioned to me were not really anticipated by me. The free flap patch involved removing a vein with it so I have a scar from the patch site on my wrist all the way to my inner elbow, this has been quite sore for a while but is settling down now. I also had quite a lot of nerve damage which affected me from probabably 2 inches above and behind my ear, including my ear, then down my neck an face and around my chin, it is changing on a weekly basis though and for the most part seems to be recovering.

the biggest thing I can tell you is that everyone is different with regard to pain, healing and symptoms, no two people are the same. 

8 weeks post op I am feeling very lucky, yes I have some pains in my shoulder but it’s manageable, yes my arm is a bit sore, yes my ear neck and chin are still numb, but, I’m still here! 

I still have 6 weeks of radiotherapy to look forward to starting on the 13th but in all I can honestly say I am no longer worrying about the long term outcome, the specialist told me that if I stayed positive and went in to this with a positive attitude, I was more likely to have a positive outcome, another thing that keeps me very positive is the fact that a 13 hr operation with two maxillofacial surgeons, an orthodontic surgeon and the rest of the team that worked on me must have cost a small fortune, I doubt in this day and age they would have done it, if they were not reasonably sure of a very high success. 

to sum up all I can really say is the consultant surgeons know what they are doing, be guided by them, if you are getting two conflicting options, discuss it with both and ultimately decide which one you trust more, but there will be no right or wrong option… just a bit different.

I really hope I’ve maybe helped you or others in some way, but feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

stay positive 

Andy

Helen Ann   Helen - as Dani mentioned in reply 1, I would highly recommend joining the "young tongues" group on that well known social media site. Set up in UK, but a mix of UK/US posters; very friendly bunch. People on there have had a varietry of tongue cancers and treatments.The mouth cancer foundation group is alspo welcoming and useful (but not exclusively for tongues)

Hi I’d just like to ask a few questions ? How many hours did your surgery take ? My stepdad is having this surgery tomorrow and I’m concerned as I’m scared of the risks  

Hi I’m so glad you are doing well but can I ask were you scared of the risks of surgery my stepdad is having the same surgery tomorrow and I’m really worried about it him in surgery for 13 hours 

It’s undoubtedly a major and traumatic operation but 1, it’s going to be life-saving 2, you wouldn’t want them to rush and 3. they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t think he would get through it.

In total. Mine was about 10-11. My husband DIDN’T want an earlier phone call as that would mean that something had gone wrong.

i can give you more info if you want to pm me.

It is absolutely a major operation and usually needs a good 10-12 days in hospital. Life will NOT go straight back to normal afterwards, particularly if he subsequently needs Radiotherapy.