I'm in Richmond and my dad was treated at VCU Medical Center. I have a friend who lives in Richmond but goes to UVA in Charlottesville for cancer treatments. She does not have oral cancer. I guess it all depends on where you are located in VA.

Sophie,

"Pharmgirl" (hi Joy) and "Richmondgirl" (hi Cindy) helped me get stated at MCV. I will PM the info about the ENT we three have dealt with. Good luck, and welcome to OCF!

Catherine

Sophie, you are here with the most difficult decision to make. Others with higher stage or node involvement really had no choice (which is easier only because the decision is obvious). With your small tumor size and perhaps early treatment, you do have a decision to make.

A couple of thoughts for you:
First, remember every person (or cancer) is unique. There is no way for you or any doctor to know if you are already cured or not.

Second, this cancer commonly re-appears. The traditional term is recurrence but the truth is, it means that it was not cured the first time. In other words it was still there even after the first surgery. If it shows up again it is more difficult to stop a second time and at a cellular level more chances for it to have spread in the interim.

Third, you are young and have much left in life to contribute to the world. For this reason, you need the absolute best professional opinion/s to guide you in your next step. It is not easy and your choices kind of suck. Get yourself to the best advice you can afford.

Fourth, If you decide to wait and see, I would go to two different ENT's from different facilities every month. This may seem wacky but it is your life it is just their job. You can't afford to have less than perfect screening examinations. Your insurance may not approve of this so you might have to make arrangements to pay out of pocket for this. Once again, it is your life it is just their job (insurance or doctor). Do not miss a visit, do not stop at two years. In my opinion, you should continue monthly visits until you outlive the ENT.

Please understand I am not trying to make you more fearful. You are up against an enemy that CAN be beat! However, you must remain ever vigilant.

Take care

Hooray to this post Mark,, I was told the Dr had gotten all of my OC with the neck dissection and removing parts of my tongue. I knew I still had it and finally he listened after 3 1/2 months and did more biopsies. It was right there looking back at him. Sophie, listen to what Mark is telling you and if you have to, pressure the Drs. The delay just made me go thru more than I should have.

In my case, even after full blasting with conventional XRT radiation of my tongue, the cancer started again. There is no replacement for vigilance when it comes to OC.

Hi Sophie,

I was also diagnosed with T1 SCC on right side of my tongue. Mine was treated surgically. I have had 4 surgeries and they are not easy, but I didn't have to go through chemo or radiation. I totally understand how you are feeling and I'm sorry you are going through it.

I highly suggest getting "scanned" I went for PET scans and they found a lung nodule. I now see a surgical oncologist for my tongue and a pulminary doc for my lung. My doc is not worried about lung so I only see him every 6 months. Quite honestly the oral doc knew about the lung and did not tell me. His nurse told me by accident and I freaked out when I learned they knew about it a year prior. If you het PET scans, they have a lot of "false positives" which can be annoying. That is why my oral doc didn't say anything to me about the lung.