I found the neck dissection not bad. It's the affects of Chemo and Rads that create the problems in the neck and mouth. Or so it was and is for me. Good luck with it all and I pray you buzz thru everything you need.

Sounds like our diagnosis was similar. I had well differentiate SCC on left posterolateral tongue, no node involvement showed on scans. I had surgery just under 3 weeks ago, partial glossectomy and ND on left side. Post surgery showed that no nodes were involved and despite that I'm glad the ND was done as for me chances of it having spread were high enough and I would have been worrying a lot about what if. So far I would say the worst part was being in the hospital as I have a hard time with taking it easy. Now I'm just trying to get used to the numbness.

The day after surgery I was walking around my floor of the hospital, albeit hunchbacked a bit as my shoulders/neck were very stiff. I was in the hospital 5 days and that was mostly because they were waiting for the neck drains to be able to come out.

When I got home I couldn't move my head around much but I started to stretch it out. My shoulder/neck are still stiff on that side (under/between shoulder blade) and I don't have full turning range of head but it's doesn't keep me from doing what I want. I still have some swelling in my chin so I feel as that goes away and with more stretching/massage I should be able to get most of my range of motion back.

I am not able to sit still for long so after making sure it was ok at about 1.5 weeks out I was able to go hiking and mountain biking. Then 2 weeks out I was able to run and since then have been on some trail runs with no ill effects. My speech is practically normal and I am back to eating most things just takes a lot longer. So in the end not all that bad.

I am sorry to read of your situation but glad you found this forum. I was stage 3 and had a whole bunch of more issues, so I had to have neck dissection as one of my lymph nodes lit up on scans, and came back positive for cancer.
ND isn't bad, and lucky for you they caught it really early, so you shouldn't need to worry about rad or chemo. Rad was far worse for me then the surgery ever was.
I wonder if they tested for HPV on ur biopsy though? If they didn't mention it, maybe it would be good to ask them. Cuz if you don't smoke, lightly drank, unless ur family members of your past have had oral cancer, or skin cancer, it could possibly be caused by HPV, and if it is caused by HPV, less likely to come back, but not impossible. Just a thought.
I know how scared you must be, but once you go through surgery, you will be happy you did and will adjust to the changes and have a whole new appreciation for many things.
I will keep you in my thoughts!!