Hi - I'm new here, having recently had very early stage tongue cancer surgery. Dentist found a spot on the bottom of my tongue on June 11, and I received my official diagnosis post biopsy on July 2. Lesion was only 3mm and the biopsy had clean margins. Had surgery on July 8 done by a very experienced ENT, to get wider margins, which all tested out to be completely clear of cancer.

I don't technically know all my staging and if it was HPV- or HPV+, but I'll ask that when I go back next week. I'm still healing up from the surgery - had the last stitches fall off about a week ago, and am still experiencing some tingling and pain, but that's going down every day. There is still a little lighter colored raised area where the last stitch came off, but it seems to be going down daily too. Still freaks me out though! I suspect there might be the last of the stitches still under there dissolving (from what I read, they can take weeks to fully dissolve below the surface) plus some scar tissue.

FYI - not a smoker (never have been), but did drink alcohol. I've since given that up - possibly permanently, just don't want to increase my risk factors! My ENT thinks it's possible that my lesion was the result of a place that rubbed on my Invisilign braces, combined with alcohol use. I love my red wine, but I love life more!

It's tough not to remain anxious. Even though both the Oral Surgeon and ENT indicated to me that I'm very lucky and this was caught at about as early a stage as is possible, I can't help but feel anxious. I'll be asking at my next appointment about 2nd opinions to make sure I really don't need additional treatment, and also if I should have regular scans moving forward. I had CT scans pre-op, but no PET scans.

Anyway, that's my story!