Cancerous tumour on floor of my mouth

Hello! Could you please tell me where was your treatment? Thank you

Royal Sussex  county Brighton

How are you Garryj three years later?

I’m OK. I’ll do a more detailed reply later.

Thank you. I hope you didn't mind me asking 

No problem about you asking.

How am I?

 I consider myself very fortunate. For that I have to thank the skill and dedication of the surgeons and nurses in the Maxillofacial unit RSC hospital in Brighton. I will be forever grateful to them.

As we all know it’s a tough gig, but the important message is you recover.

My operation was eleven hours, surgery was around nine hours. 
Removed floor of the mouth, part of the tongue, most of the back teeth and the lymph nodes in the neck. Free flap replacement from the wrist with the feed artery attached to supply the blood once in place. And a tracheostomy. A few days of intensive care, and a few days on the ward.

Speech and swallowing therapy and 3 months of milk and protein powder.

But I can’t say I had any pain. My op was end May 2022 and I did a four mile jog by seventh July.

my speech isn’t perfect but it’s ok.

I will never eat a steak or crisps again and have to have a lot of sauce with my meals.

A minor irritation is the nerves in neck and jaw which haven’t recovered. Shaving is unpleasant ( I couldn’t bear an electric razor)

So, long answer to a short question. But we don’t even talk about my health at home anymore. I’m fine.

I would hope that this reply will help other people who get a shock diagnosis as I did and search for help.

Garryj

Thank you so much. You don’t realise how much encouragement that gives to people just starting. I hope you continue to be well. 

I want to help Dani. When you get a mouth cancer diagnosis. It rocks your world, nothing in anyone’s previous life prepares them for a cancer diagnosis.
I won’t minimise the challenges ahead, but I just want people to know that you will recover.

Thank you for this reply, Garryj. As Dani said, it's always lovely to hear about people's recovery and how they are coping. I had the same operation as you in 2008, and like you, I have made a good recovery. Although I had two further operations in 2009 and 2010, as it returned, life is good now. Your name rings a bell, and it's great you made a good recovery. All the best.

                                                                      Chris 

Had all my treatment at  Norfolk and Norwich