Quality of Life

Assalamualaikum wrbt:

Hello,
Before my operation, my doctor said that at least 3/4 of my tongue will have to be removed or possibly the whole tongue. The prospect of being left without a tongue really sounded scary. A lot of things came into my mind. First, my career in the teaching line, all that hard work and sacrifice would be down the drain because most probably I would not be able to speak. Next, my family. Would they be able to understand me? Lastly, food. Would I be able to eat at all? What is going to happen to me? Well, lets not think of the worst. For all you know, I might still be able to retain 1/4 of the tongue. That is better than nothing, right?

Then, came the big day, April 16. I was told that my lower jaw would be cut through the middle and an incision would be made on the neck area from ear to ear. This is to enable the doctors to have access to the tongue and the floor of the mouth and the lymph nodes around the neck. They had to take out the lymph nodes because normally, in oral cancer cases, the cancer cells would surely get to the lymph nodes sooner or later. Ok, this is it. I was pushed into the operation theatre at 11.25 am. I was then introduced to the surgeons ( there were 5 or 6 of them) which consisted of the ENT specialists, plastic surgeons, anasthetic team and the nurses. Well, I couldn't care less. I was in my own world. Then, one of them placed the oxygen mask on my nose and I started saying the shahadah. After the fifth shahadah, I was in a dreamland.

When I came around, I was already in the ICU, all wired up. The first voice I heard was that of my husband. He said,"Don't think of anything. The doctors have done their best. Just rest. Don't worry about anything." At that moment, I knew that I had lost my tongue. I just nodded.