jen, i have a very similar story to you, in terms of initial diagnosis and recurrence. i had SCC diagnosed on right lateral tongue in 9/08, then partial glossectomy, right neck dissection, chemo and radiation. mine was T1N1M0. in 3/09, i had noticed a lot of pain on the left side of my jaw but my CT scans continued to come back negative. my left jaw area was swelling and sore, but i just figured i had a blocked submandibular duct because of radiation treatment. it wasn't until 8/09 that a bump showed up in my right neck suture line and after seeing my surgeon and getting biopsied both under my left jaw and right neck suture line, did it come back as recurrence. crazy that our cancers can go from right tongue to left neck. unfortunately, my tumor(s) aren't surgically resectable at this time. i just got back from my first visit to MD Anderson in TX and I'll be receiving some chemo there. i've been on other chemos since august, and while they are holding tumor in check, they're not getting rid of it.

i wish you the best in your surgery and future treatment. stay strong, and remember to smile and laugh as much as possible. we are going to tough this all out!

kristen

26 yo Med student: 9/26/08- biopsy diagnose SCC on rt side of tongue
10/08/08- partial glossectomy and rt sided neck dissection removing 42 nodes, one of which positive for SCC
11/10/08- 7 wks of 33x IMRT, wkly cisplatin and wkly erbitux tx
12/26/08- last day of radiation.
8/5/09- uh oh...