Hi Sweetz,

Sorry to hear of your condition.

I,too, was diagnosed with tongue SCC about 6 weeks ago and had surgery to remove the tumour a few weeks ago.

I am even younger than you (25) and have no family yet. But when you get such news from docs you really get to understand what is more important in this life.

Try not to worry about it - you will be fine. I, too, tried to cry a few times and was concerned that my quality of life may change. However, worrisome and negative emotions won't help you and won't cure the desease. Stay positive, and believe in the best. Trust your docs and remember that this desease is curable and it's not death sentence - you just need to go through some kind of medical input. Don't think that it's a tough road, believe it's doable and you will cope well because you are young and you won't note how soon you are done.

I also used to smoke a pack of cigarettes per week between the age of 17 and 21. Then I gave up. I drink socially.

I have also heard from other young people that they used to be light ex-smokers in the past and that they got SCC at a later stage. Perhaps it could be a new topic to study - if there is any connection of 3 cigarettes a day and SCC.

Allen Carr, who has written 'the easy way to stop smoking' (this is how i gave up actually) says that smoking 3 cigarettes a day is more harmful than smoking 1 pack a day. It's better to smoke properly or not to smoke at all.

Gook luck with rad and have no negative thoughts!

Max