My husband had tongue cancer surgery on March 18. Two thirds of his tongue was removed and the tongue was rebuilt by a plastic surgeon. It looks like a real tongue, but it is not a "god given tongue". He is on a feeding tube and will be starting chemo and radiation within the next few weeks. He cannot swallow and was told not to even try yet because if he tries to swallow and something goes wrong, the fluid may end up in his lungs. We had a speech therapist come to the house a few times when he came home from the hospital and she gave him some exercises to do. She know longer makes house calls. We will be checking on some speech therapy and will have that swallowing test done, but should we wait til after the radiation ? I hear the radiation does a "number" on your throat, etc. and it may make it more difficult for him to go to therapy while undergoing radiation. He is so worried that he will not ever be able to eat again. The base of his tongue was left untouched/no cancer there.