As part of understanding life after tongue cancer surgery let us first look at possible ways to identify tongue cancer.  The symptoms depend on the stage of the disease and may vary accordingly. In the early stages, symptoms are most likely to be subtle and many people are more likely to overlook the same. Some of the common symptoms include the following: 

Initial symptoms

• Formation of sores or ulcers on the tongue. Sores that are persistent and do not heal even after two weeks. Initially painless but turn out to be painful over time.
• Formation of reddish or white patches. Known as erythroplakia or leukoplakia patches respectively, they form either on the tongue or inside the mouth.
• Mild pain or sensation of discomfort may be experienced on the tongue. Some are likely to experience a burning sensation on the tongue.
• Lump or thickening on the tongue that does not seem to heal.

Advanced symptoms

• Experiencing pain while either eating or speaking:
• Difficulty or pain during chewing, swallowing, or while moving the tongue for routine actions.
• Persistent sore throat that feels like something is stuck in the throat for ever.
• Numb sensation in the mouth or tongue. This is mostly experienced as some kind of unexplained numb sensation.
• Discernible changes in voice may be observed. This could be more like a hoarse voice or some change in voice tone.
• Bleeding may occur in in the tongue. This will mostly occur without any apparent reason.
• Bad breath may also be experienced and this halitosis will not usually improve with oral hygiene.
• Swollen lymph nodes may also be experienced. Here, formation of lumps in the neck are primarily due to spread to lymph nodes.