I'm new to this site. About 8 years ago i had a canker sore on the side of my tongue that would go away and then come back every few months. I had it biopsied and it came back as mild dysplasia. I'm an non smoker, don't dip, don't drink. I had about 7 other biopsies over the next 8 years all of which came back as mild dysplasia. It was scary, but it wasn't cancer and i felt that we were on top of it. The oral surgeon i was seeing referred me to a tongue cancers specialist about 5 months ago because he thought he would serve me better. He has done 2 biopsies, first of which came back as dysplasia and then in July 2013 came back with a small area of cancer. I was staged as Stage 1.

The plan was for the surgeon to go in again (yesterday) and get the remaining cancer and clear margins. However, when he went in he saw a lession at the base of my tongue. He took 3 small biopsies of that area in the OR all of which came back as cancer. He woke me up from surgery to discuss the next step as removal of this lession would require a more extensive surgery than was planned. I'm scheduled for this Thur for him to go back in and remove that area. The surguery will require that he cut my jawbone, remove about 1/3 of the base of my tongue, and reconstruct with some tissue from my arm. He will also remove the lymph nodes in my neck to ensure they are clear. I'm told i will be in the ICU for 3 days with a trac and then in the hospital for about 2 weeks recovering. I'm know thats what needs to be done, but i'm scared of what is in store. Can anyone who has gone thru this give me some idea of what i can expect? I know i can do it and get thru it, but i'm extremely anxious about the surgery.