Donna from Winnipeg here. Good luck with your surgery on Tuesday. It sounds like they now have a good plan and are moving forward to make sure that this beast is eradicated. I had the partial glossectomy and neck dissection - twice - once in 2004 and once in 2007.

The nodes COULD be larger due to their general irritation, but in my experience they are most likely a victim of the cancer as well. For me, the neck dissection was a non-issue. Sort of like adding the superwax to your car wash - an extra but didn't change the actual car wash that much!

I would expect that once the pathology is back that you will be headed for radiation and/or chemo. The chemo given is the type that boosts the effectiveness of the radiation and is not the type of chemo where you lose your hair. Depending on where the radiation beams are aimed, that is where you may find more issues with your jaw and your neck - but those effects likely won't show up for years. They can be debilitating when they do show up - but you have to keep looking at the 'big picture' when dealing with all of this.

My doctors goal is and was to get rid of the cancer and effect a cure. That was the big picture.

Everything else that happens along the way is seen as collateral damage and I do try to look at it from their perspective. I am still here 10 years past my initial diagnosis, and 6 years past the end of treatment from my recurrence, so they do appear to have had the right approach!!

Wishing you well. I will be thinking of you on the 25th. Sending you good vibes for a smooth recovery and early pathology from the surgery! That will be what drives the next section of your treatment so you will want to hear that right away. Hugs.

Donna