Tag Archives: Glossectomy

Personal Notes

Leave a reply

The months of August and September of this year, 2025, have been less than fun. I had a tumor removed from my tongue (a partial glossectomy) in August and a neck dissection in September to look for signs of spread. The 15 or so lymph nodes removed were all clear of cancer. As a result, my ability to swallow is impaired and my speech is now slurred. The dissection resulted in nerve damage resulting in malfunction of facial muscles and the ability of my tongue to participate normally in chewing and swallowing. You know that smacking sound you make when you kiss someone? That is now gone.

Combined with a previous problem with balance, I can easily appear as though I’m drunk or stoned. My nightmare is that I’ll end up doing a roadside sobriety test and fail it spectacularly. The copper will be momentarily satisfied that he/she found another drunk driver until I blow a 0.000 % on their handy-dandy blood alcohol meter. Yeah, then we’ll share some laughter together until I say ‘I told you so’ then we’ll part ways.

I disclose this personal information only to ask the broader question of who thinks of having a tumor cut out of your tongue when you’re younger? The inside of your mouth is perhaps the most intimate place on your body. Our consciousness is certainly tied in closely. It began as a small dysplasia which I had removed several years ago. This year it had regrown into a tumor, as dysplasia often does.

I’ve had difficulty choking on food since my throat cancer was heavily irradiated in 2013. But this new problem is more difficult and immediate. Eating and drinking normally causes food to come out my nose with prolonged coughing. Everything I eat must either be normally thick, like soup, or be thickened with carrageenan gum. Low viscosity fluids like water or soft drinks cause choking.

My ENT suggested physical therapy to help with the neck swelling through massage, but I said I just had to find a strip mall with a massage parlor. A moment of whimsy in the exam room.

This afternoon I’ll top off this surgery season with a root canal and crown. Happy happy joy joy. As a side note, Medicare has been surprisingly easy to work with.

Cancer, Cancer Everywhere.

2 Replies

First let me say that I have never been a smoker, drug user or sun bather. As a chemist I have always been cautious about chemical exposure. I have numerous cancers now with the two serious ones in remission. The new ones- who knows.

I use a university hospital and have been visited by flocks of med students looking at me in wonder, sometimes looking down my throat. I get a kick out of it. I always try to joke with them. All cancer diagnoses go before a faculty tumor board for collective assessment. That in particular drew me to this hospital.

My experience with numerous radiation, medical, ENT, and head & neck oncologists is that they absolutely do not want to discuss end of life issues. Maybe that is because I’m not near the end yet, though. But more likely they have production quotas and need to stick to the timeline. My head and neck oncologist did say that they were trying to keep me above the grass, though. That was cheerful.

Since July 22 of this year, I’ve had a partial glossectomy to remove a tumor resulting in a nickel-sized piece of the left edge of my tongue being removed, my first colonoscopy, a neck dissection looking for more cancer, and tomorrow is a root canal. Sonofabitch!

The glossectomy resulted in giving me slurred speech and then the neck dissection made it much worse with the added joy of serious swallowing difficulty. Liquids must be thickened with carrageenan gum to mostly avoid inhalation of food and drink. I’ve already been hospitalized with pneumonia resulting from inhaled food.

My 68th birthday was last week and while I received my well wishes, not a single person was moved to suggest a gerontologist, elder care facility or even as little as when the word “elderly” is used. I’m left up in the air …

It never occurred to me earlier in life that a piece of my tongue could be sliced out. What part of your body is more intimate in your daily consciousness than your mouth? I’ve had surgeons say “give me control of your tongue”. A fella doesn’t hear that very often.

The colonoscopy revealed 2 polyps suspected of being cancerous. So, to tally up the score, I have stage 4 prostate cancer, stage 4 throat cancer, tongue cancer, basil cell skin cancer, and possible colon cancer. Jesus H. Christ!! What next?.

The radiation of my throat resulted in the loss of about 1/2 of my salivary glands and taste buds. I’ve had dry mouth since radiation treatment in 2013, resulting in the loss of numerous teeth.

I was given radiation treatment of my prostate in 2014 and again last summer when the PSA score breached the 4.0 level. Since the 2014 treatment the thinking has changed on radiation dosage. Previously I was given about 1.8 Gray per dose. This time it was 5.0 Gray per dose over fewer doses. The thinking is that it is better to try to break the cancer cell DNA in 2 places at once rather than in just one place. In two rounds of x-radiation treatment of my prostate, I have experienced no pain or discomfort. I’ve had two rounds of 18F-Glucose injections for PET/CT scans.

The throat radiation was a different story. It gave me the world’s worst sore throat. I was fed through a stomach tube and was on opioids for an extended period. Let me say that I detest opioids and the constipation they bring. How do opioid addicts deal with this??

The throat cancer was from the HPV virus and that form is quite treatable, fortunately for me. The tongue cancer was also a squamous cell carcinoma but not of HPV origin.

Life on our lonely pale blue dot is strange. I’ll never get a full grasp of it. I’ll be on the top side of the grass for a while yet and until that changes, I’ll still be a student of the sciences and will continue to write about it.