Surgery tomorrow

1. I had a tablet with bbc iplayer and Netflix, amazon Prime apps which I downloaded some stuff onto,  and ear buds, which I found I used  so much for my 4 nights as its a long day and NHS offers free WiFi.  And wet wipes..   I hope everything goes smoothly. All the best Xx 

To be honest Rose i found that i was kept busy with people/drs talking to me, blood tests, and checking everything is ok, I used to do crosswords or look at books. Nowadays, a mobile phone, tablet or laptop will help take his mind off things. You may find he will just want to rest without to many visitors as he will be very tired and emotional in some cases. I hope it all goes well for tomorrow, best wishes.

                                                                     Chris x

Hu don’t forget a long cable for charging as the usb sockets are usually high up on a wall. A iPad and kindle were my go to th)BT’s when I was having all day chemo. Plus for me herbal tea bags as I do t drink ordinary tea.  
Maybe a pack of wet wipe/ moisture type wipes. Tissues dressing gown slippers.

everything x for operation 

Hazel xx

Good luck to your husband for his surgery, he will be in good hands.

Ray.

I recently had the same operation in November 2025. Neck dissection with removal of part of neck muscle parotidectomy and dermal fat from abdomen to pack out where Saliva gland was removed also removed a lymph gland in neck.

I spent 5 days in hospital my tablet was my saviour watching BBC I player ITV X Netflix etc.

Talking to people on my 4 bed ward kept me occupied too. Day 3 I used to walk up and down the main corridor to keep my legs working.

Hope all goes well with the operation ️

I just wanted to wish you well as read your blog and loving the T shirts and positivity. I dont know if i will need radiotherapy as only partial glossectomy and waiting for results. But your attitude is encouraging to others and I hope it continues as you been through a lot! Kind regards

Surgery has gone ok. He is fine. They removed 95 percent of the cancer but the way it was wrapped around his facial nerves made it very hard to get the remaining bit without permanently affecting his whole face.

The surgeon said radiotherapy should be able to get that bit but I am naturally a bit disappointed as was hoping for clear margins. Has anyone had similar?

Glad it went well.  Shame about the cancer still being there, but they took a pragmatic approach to disfiguration.

I had base of tongue but I suspect the radiotherapy will be in a similar physical area although targeted less deep than the tongue.  There are probably a few on here that have had RT to the partiod and a better idea of the effects.  Most of us have similar - loss of saliva, ulceration to the throat etc.  It is not nice, but is manageable and the outcomes are very positive.  Alas it is a marathon rather than a sprint, but take heart that in the end there will be many opportunities for you and he to enjoy life once again.

I do hope all has gone well.

That was the same with me the facial nerves run thru the saliva gland which I believe is a tricky job. The right side of my mouth has a droop but after about 8 weeks now since the operation its slowly getting better with a few facial exercises.

It will take a while but the worse bits over now. Positive thoughts will help I found and radiotherapy sounds a bit daunting but it's not as bad as I thought. I was petrified of the thought of it but it gets easier after the first session

Best of luck for everything. I'm sure he will smash it ️