Hi Julie,

You sure have been through a lot. I'm sad to think about how hard it must be for you.

My husband John was diagnosed last Sept with SCC in his left tonsil and also had lymph node involvement on the same side. When they designed the radiation treatment the radiation oncologist said that he would be receiving radiation to the right side of his neck as well because the cancer sometimes spreads from the same side as the tumour to the opposite side and they wanted to try and catch any cells that might have already moved to that side. That pattern of spreading may be more common for tonsil than for tongue- I don't know.

John didn't receive quite as much radiation on the opposite side because they wanted to try and preserve the function of some of the saliva glands.

all the best to you and hope your recovery is going well.
Mary