Dear Cathy G, Jennie, wife of Eric and all,
I wanted to update all you wonderful people about 33 year old Laura (whose mother died of tongue cancer at age 33, my first age incorrectly listed as 30), diagnosed 2& 1/2 weeks ago. I checked out her Doctor teem and though not at a major cancer center, they are good and very aggressive. Laura will go for a 2nd opinion to a major cancer center after the surgery which is Tuesday. I ask her Doctor about a 2nd opinion and he said that that was great , the only warning he gave us is to be sure the protocol is aggressive enough, apparently one person he sent to UCSF was advised of a lesser protocol then he advised. So we feel pretty confident. Laura was initially diagnosed with stage one, though she had it for at least 1 year. Now after the PET scan it is still stage one or two (tumor well defined is about 2 centimeters, which is borderline stage two.) Two of her lymph nodes were slightly enlarged (1.7 centimeters biggest) so we were nervous about the PET scan. But it did not show any cancer in the nodes nor did it show cancer in the tongue. I questioned the accuracy of the test (everything says it is 95-7% accurate on-line) Laura talked to the doctor and he said that this can happen when the cancer is somewhat superficial (I mention this because I saw that someone else wondered about it). So it is not as thick. This is great news!! He will do radiation after the surgery (partial glossectomy and neck dissection), so it sounds as though everything is on track as well as anything can be. I tried to get Laura and her husband to go on this site but they are not ready to do it, so I will keep corresponding until they are. I am so grateful to you Brian and to all the wonderful people who offer encouragement and advice. We are feeling allot more hopeful and not as devastated. I have my heart and prayers open for all of you amazing people!!!! I am leaving my computer until I don

As bad as this disease is, it is treatable. The percentages are on her side to get a cure by what now, considered standard treatment regimens. Surgery and or radiation therapy coupled with chemotherapy.
Darrell