Mouth cancer - having difficulty saying the letter K and swallowing

Hi Lor_S

I think that 8 weeks is very soon after surgery and you’ll still have lots of swelling. I had different surgery (tonsils and tongue base) but had difficulty with certain sounds and a very weak voice at 8 weeks. your speech will continue to improve and I saw big improvements about 4 months post surgery.

Ask if you can see a speech therapist. I kept a note of my particular speech issues to discuss and was given exercises to strengthen my voice. 

Thank you kindly Woodz

Your response is very helpful as well as encouraging. I will definitely ask to see the speech therapist, and glad to here that 8 weeks is still considered 'early days'.

How long ago was your treatment, and how are you doing now?

Hope you are okay at the moment.

My surgery was July 2024. I am a university lecturer so speaking loudly/dynamically is pretty critical to my job. I started lecturing again in January - so it took 6 months to have the volume and strength to talk for two hours. 

Hi Lor S.

My bloke had his surgery four months ago (TL) with neck dissection both sides and nodes removed.

It's taken this long for a visible, and noticeable, improvement to his neck.  It did look like something out of a horror film in the beginning with livid, mangled skin and lymphoedema resembling two small cow udders!  Six weeks of RT made it even more of a mess and I thought he was stuck with it.

However, with the help of Flamigel RT and diligently applying said cream continuously, I've got it looking pretty good and he's thrilled.  He would have struggled to tend to it by himself, what with all the stiffness in his shoulders, neck etc., but it's going well now.  I was particularly pleased today when a big chunk of leathery, burnt skin dropped off by itself. (I've resisted the urge to pick it off!)

We've got an appointment on Monday with Active Together, who will give him exercises to increase mobility and hopefully ease the stiffness and aches.  His H&N team made the referral and it was very quickly put in place.

Give it more time and be generous with any creams your team may have supplied or recommended.  Good luck with your speech, too.

Gill xx

That is indeed impressive, that you can now speak loudly and for so long.. tha knyou so much for the encouraging answer Woodz

Hi Gill,

I loved reading this, you describe the situation well with humor as well. I made me giggle.

Thanks so much for sharing, and that you took the time to type this up.

It gives me hope hearing about similar experiences and that the creams are actually working, is fantastic news. I will ask my doctors about it.

I am having physio later today for the stiff neck and back and also hoping that it will make a difference. I will let you know and hope you guys' appointment on Monday will be very helpful as well x