I am closing in on 2 months without a tongue. Not having a tongue REALLY makes you appreciate what you took for granted. I have touched on this previously, but i really want everyone out there WITH a tongue (errrr...most of you) to appreciate what you have.
Cleaning your mouth. Yup, you don't think about it but your tongue moves around and gets the stray bits of food and saliva off the roof of your mouth, off the back of your teeth. Now i use an oral swab to wipe it down twice a day and that shit is gross!
Regulate your saliva. Somehow it must keep your saliva inside your mouth...because now i go to open my mouth and shit can come tumbling out. So even a wide smile can be dangerous.
Making noise. I'm not talking speech here people - I'm just saying if you want to make say simple clicking noises - you can't do it without a tongue. Or maybe its the lack of having an airway connected to my mouth - beats me...but i can't make a sound except sloppy raspberries and lip smacking.
Making faces. It's really handy to stick your tongue out to people!
Speaking. Okay, so i don't have a larynx so that is a big obstacle. However even those without a larynx WITH a tongue stand a good chance via a TEP or an electrolarynx of making somewhat intelligible speech. But without a tongue to shape sound pushed up from within, it will be extremely difficult to ever make any sort of speech again. It has been done, but not by very many people.
Gargling. Nope, that shit just slides right down without a tongue and epiglottis. (Yes i can swish back and forth.)
Eating solids. I could try and tell you i don't miss it, but that would be a load of shit. Crunchy nachos, chewy cheese, soft luscious bread, long strings of pasta, breakfast burritos brimming with eggs and chorizo and cheese...oh lord, i could go on. Yes, i can chew....up and down. However, your tongue is what controls the pushing of the food around your mouth. No you don't think about it on the daily, but try your hardest to not move your tongue and chew and SWALLOW that food. I have read accounts of people who chew food and move it around their mouth with a utensil or their fingers (and i wouldn't be above trying that at some point, no siree i wouldn't), but you also have to make sure it doesn't go down the open pipe uncontrolled and make you gag, or get it to go down at all. I don't know, i have a hard enough time getting pureed soups to go down. Then there is the risk/effort vs reward equation...because say you can mash it up and get it down...but can't really TASTE it.
Taste. Sure, there are taste buds elsewhere in your mouth besides the tongue. Take it from me, MOST OF THEM ARE IN YOUR GODDAMN TONGUE. Tonight I tried to drink a Shake Shack Chocolate Malt Shake, big treat. NOTHING. Nada, zip, zero. I put it down after a few attempts - what's the point? I do get slight tastes of some things. Chocolate, one of my great passions in life, seems to be illusive as of yet. I guess those buds all went bye bye with the ol tongue-aroony. What I do taste is a weak version at best. It seems I can only extract parts of multi-faceted tastes and they are changed, not what they once were.
TASTE TASTE TASTE. All of you tongue toting fools go out there and lick some ice cream, down some pizza, chomp a sandwich. Flipping taste anything and everything there is to taste. The world is a blander place without it. So enjoy mother f()*)#(ers -
"Gratitude for what we have, not complaining about what we don't have." A Life Lesson for all of us. Thank you for reminding me of this. Your insights and humor (and sense of loss) you so generously share here is an inspiration to me. It has helped me deal with my recent (seems recent) loss with the understanding of what I did have for so long, and what wonderful memories I have.
You are so right! We all take for granted so much until it is gone. As Grandma Jeannette use to say “everyday is a gift.” It’s the things we don’t realize we have that we miss once they are gone, like how easy a walk use to be or tasting! Thank you for the reminder. I love you sending 💗 from Tucson.
I can't find the words. Really, I sat with my fingers on the keys for a full three minutes, trying to figure out what to say. Just know that we love all of you, and we care.
Hada