What is cancer complications?

• Try to think of food as medicine. It's part of your treatment. You need plenty of calories and protein to get better.
• Eat foods you like, but not your favorite foods. Your sense of taste may change. After you recover, you may not want to eat the same foods.
• Try soft foods like cooked cereals, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, or even baby food, which comes in many flavors. In general, soft, moist foods are easiest to swallow.
• Get extra protein by adding protein powder to milk shakes, breakfast drinks, or nutritional drinks.
• Stay away from spicy or acidic foods. And don't eat anything too cold or too hot.
• If your symptoms are severe, ask your doctor about getting a feeding tube to make sure you get the nutrition you need.

If you need surgery on your tongue or other parts of your mouth, such as removing lymph nodes or tumors, you may have trouble speaking. For some people, this is temporary. But for others, it can be permanent.

Surgery on your voice box or vocal cords can change the sound of your voice and make it hard to communicate. You may need to use an assistive device to speak after the surgery. Or you can learn a different way to communicate.

If you need a breathing tube after surgery, you will also learn how to speak with the tube in. You may need to use a special device to make sounds.

Your doctor or speech therapist may give you exercises to do at home. These exercises train your muscles to work together and help you swallow and speak more clearly. A speech therapist can also show you how to use equipment that may allow you to speak again.