So you wanna be a Glossy..
Okay, so fine, none of us want to be Glossectomees or Laryngectomees, but we do want to live, so here we are!
I preface these tips by saying, every person's experience is unique with unique obstacles, so i cannot presume to know what you will go through. I can only offer my experience as a survivor and what i have gathered from other survivors along the way.
I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.
ALWAYS consult your OWN medical PROFESSIONALS!
at the get go....
01
ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Learning you have cancer. Finding out you may lose all or part of your tongue and/or larynx. Going through treatment.
Let’s be clear: this is traumatic.
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What helped me was focusing on one day at a time. Especially after surgery, my only job was that day. Not next month. Not “what if.” Just today—and the tiny wins, like walking one extra lap around the hospital floor. Looking too far down the road can get overwhelming fast.
Zoom in. Today is plenty.
02
AN ADVOCATE.
If someone offers to come with you to appointments—say yes. Take them up on it.
In “normal life,” you may be great at making decisions and remembering details, you run a Fortune 500 company, you have 4 kids and multitask in your sleep! I get it, but once you become a "patient", everything changes. New terms, new information, big emotions—and yes, some shock. Having someone with you at every appointment is incredibly helpful. Emotional support is great, but what you really want is someone who can take notes.
Think of them as your advocate… or your personal secretary 😉.
03
THE NOTEBOOK.
Get one. Bring it to every appointment. Use it for questions, notes, symptoms, sleep patterns, meds—everything. (Or hopefully your secretary/advocate will handle it.) Yes, i know you ran that Fortune 500 company, but, trust me: you will not remember it later.
Having one place for all of this becomes an invaluable resource and a sanity-saver.
04
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
In real life, I was not good at this. At all.
Tired? Push through. Ache? Ignore it. Even my first time in the ICU—intubated—I was trying to answer work emails. 🙄
Recovery forced me to slow down and actually listen. And when my body said, “Hey, I need rest,” I finally answered, “Okay.”
I promise you this: the world will keep turning. People will figure out how to do the things you used to do.
Right now, your priority is YOU.
And YOUR BODY.