I'm a newbie here and here is my story to date.

1. Been diagnosed (and confirmed) that I have Squamous Cell Carcinoma on the base of the tongue.

2. Have swelling on left side of throat up by the ear and quessing the cancer is there also

3. Looking like I'm going to have to go thru the following for sure
- radiology
- chemotherapy
- surgery (dissection on neck)

3. Have had the following pre-tests
- Catscans of chest and head (both were good according to doctors)
- Petscan (ditto)
- Radiology 'planning' session

4. Scheduled next week for
- Putting a 'port' by shoulder for vein access?
- Colonoscopy (guess to be sure of that area?)
- Dentist (will probably lose what teeth I have left on bottom)
- Radiogoly 'confirmation' session

WHEW.......that's a lot of doctors in just about 3 weeks of action. Having started ANY of acutal treatments YET.

I just wanted to introduce myself and explain where I'm starting out. My situation is I'm single and live alone and only have two living family members (two brothers that live 500 and 800 miles away). So, I'm kind of going to have to make a go of this by myself. I'm hoping I can make some good friends thru here that have gone thru this (or in whatever stage) to help me get thru it and answer the obvious questions I'm sure to have along the way.

I'll end this by saying I've always been a VERY positive person and hope to keep the eternal opptimisum I've always had.