Kate - you are so right in everything you have said. I think it would be very beneficial for people who have read this article (and the one in the New Yorker) to realize that he has taken a big gamble in order to save his tongue that might not work out in the long run - and that people like you are doing great! I don't think it points out well what the current evidence and research shows as the most effective treatment. It might even make some people regret their decisions, which is sad...

And everytime I read an article that talks about the typical tongue cancer patient being a 60 + yr old male who smokes and drinks heavily, it also frustrates me. I just had to go to the Emergency room for a fall in which I split open my left ear, on the same side as my neck dissection was, and of course I explained to both the triage nurse and the doctor who saw me about my oral cancer - reaction from both of them was identical - first question was "do you smoke?" (no, not for almost 25 years and back then, only infrequently) and then "how did someone like you get this?" So I educated both of them on the fact that many people who have oral cancer don't fit that stereotype, and about the link to the HPV virus (they had never heard of that), etc.