Hello, everyone. I was diagnosed in early April after an allergist found an enlarged lymph node that didn't go away. I've never smoked and don't drink much so my doctor wasn't all that concerned but after 3 weeks we did a CT scan that turned up SCC in the right tongue base with a couple of nodes. A PET/CT scan confirmed this but showed no metastatic spread. A tongue biopsy followed and then a lot of meetings with various doctors until I settled on a treatment plan.

A neck dissection followed and then the pre-radiation "sims" and dental shield. Had an "induction" round of chemo because the neck biopsy found a Level 3 node that didn't show up on the scans and all 3 were extracapsulated.

Just had a port put in for the chemo, my 3rd surgery in the last 6 weeks. But all the pretreatment stuff is done now and I'm waiting to begin radiation and chemo on June 4th. I'm a bit nervous but also very glad to be starting the primary treatment. It seems like forever since the initial diagnosis and I know this cancer moves fast.

I am very glad to have found this Patient Forum. My wife has had breast cancer, twice, both 12 and 16 years ago and I know how much that Forum meant to her.

At the same time, I admit it's been hard to write this first post. I've always been a very private person and much more comfortable taking care of others than asking for help myself. So I see that this cancer is also an opportunity for me to go beyond a lot of self-imposed limitations. My wife says that she's much happier now, after the two cancers, than she was before. I always understood that intellectually, but now see it in an entirely different way.

I have some questions to pose to the group but will put them in separate emails later.

David R