Hello. My son (25 years old, newly wed, expectant father) was diagnosed with tongue cancer 9-12-07. He has undergone a partial glossectomy, and 6 weeks of radiation treatments. After feeling a knot in his neck he had a CT Scan and a PET Scan. He will have a modified neck dissection, right tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy soon. What can he expect from the surgery? Pain? recovery time? This has been a very emotional time for the whole family. This is my only child and I have found this ordeal very difficult, it is a rare day I do not cry. How do I find strength? Evelyn

Oh My Evelyn...my heart goes out to you and your son.....I can tell you that I had tongue cancer and two lymph nodes that were cancerous almost 5 years ago....please email or PM me if you want more detail...in the meantime, I am praying for you and your son. God Bless, Carol

Dear Evelyn - Oh, how I really feel the pain you must be going through! My son had 1/6 of his tongue removed followed by radiation treatments. He had stage 2 SCC and is doing just great right now! He says that the surgery was a piece of cake compared to the radiation. I never thought I could get through it and my heart just broke several times but the strength does come from somewhere. What helped me was staying active, and coming back to this site several times, often in the middle of the night when sleep would not come. There are lots of "night people" here so whenever the anxiety gets really bad, you can always count on somebody being around. To be strong for your son, you need to take care of yourself, too. Have you checked with your doctor for medication to help you with the stress? Try to hang in there and check out all the info from this site. It will help you get your questions ready for the doctor of from people here with similar experiences. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Annette