As an update and a hope for guidance...

I ended up cancelling my appointment to the ENT I mentioned above. My condition was the same and I didn't want to spend the money as I wasn't convinced with his approach. So, I go through the Holidays and the condition gets worse. Let me explain: I have a very small (dry pea sized) bump under the tip of my tongue on the left side that is now there basically all of the time and is soft in nature - feels like a flap of skin, really. If I lift my tongue up and to the right, the bump pops out a bit more and becomes hard - like a bulging muscle in your arm when you flex. If I stretch it to the LEFT and up, I feel a pulling sensation in that area that hurts like a small shooting pain - like a rubber band pulled too tight. All of this, so far, is manageable, candidly. Not ideal, but given what it could be, it doesn't cripple my day. Where it is not fine is what happens when I start to talk. The more I talk, the more the muscles in the tip of my tongue feel tight and stretched. It is at that time that the bump also gets very hard and feels tight, too. With time, my entire tip of my tongue ONLY on the left sized feels huge and impacts my speech. Keep in mind, this is the same side of my mouth where I lost a small bit of feeling from the surgery I had - mentioned above - 20 years ago. I have had NO issues in 20 years, other than some numbness in that area, but it's been so very small - the area that is numb.

I ended up going to a speech therapist right at the turn of the year. They gave me some exercises to do and referred me to a new ENT that specialized in more than kids tonsils. I met him yesterday and spent and hour with him. He was interested in helping, but said he didn't know what it was. He did confirm that he didn't think it was cancer. He did speculate that my tongue is pushing into the bottom row of my teeth, which are very sharp, which has let to that irritation where the lump it. Frankly, the more that I look at it, that bump lines up right on one of my sharpest teeth down in that area. I admit I move my tongue around a lot in my mouth - stretching it, biting at it, etc. Especially when I'm talking as it helps relieve/divert some of the pain. I have a dentist appointment Friday to have those teeth smoothed.

Back to the ENT - he ordered blood work that already came back. All were normal, including the WBC count - basically in the middle. But, my Neut% was high - high normal was 70 and I was 77.8%. Also, LY% was low - low normal was 19% and I'm at 13.2%. My GP said he wasn't worried as the WBC count was good; also that I'm fighting what appears to be a head cold - chills, fatigue, etc. Thyroid (1.99), cholesterol, etc. was all good. So was my rheumatoid factor - <10. The ENT also ordered a CT scan that I'm trying to schedule now.

I try to remain calm, especially in light of what many others' here have going on. I struggle, mentally, with it as I need to speak for a living. That leads to my being able to support my family, etc. It races in my mind. I'm taking active steps to manage the process through these visits, but admit that I'm not doing a good job of dealing with it mentally. I don't really know where else to go/turn for guidance and assistance. I feel like the CT scan is a start, but will likely lead to the need for an MRI - insurance requires the CT first, etc. I'm sure you all know how that goes. It's one step at a time and I also appreciate that.

I can't help but think to myself - it feels like the muscles in my tongue are all twisted in a knot. The left side of my tongue feels larger than the right and the ENT noticed that on his own and agreed. My biting, twisting/contorting it is not doing me any good and I know that. It's so very difficult to stop - especially when it cramps up while I am talking. I'm looking for relief when that happens.

I appreciate any guidance you all may have on where to go to next should the above not pan out. I keep things in perspective as best I can, but admit I'm worried about not being able to speak well enough to work, make an income and support my family.

Thank you for your time!