My situation being different than most of the people on the forum, I think it's time for me to tell my experience.

I had a CT scan before my first visit with my surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center (a CCC) which was "all clear". This had been ordered by the oral surgeon in my office that had done the biopsy.

The surgeon told me that in his experience (which is fairly extensive) he has found cancerous nodes in approximately 15% of cases where the CT had negative findings. He gave me my choice, but he recommended the ND in conjunction with the partial glossectomy. To me, this was a no brainer. If he had said 0%, I would have been OK. To me 15% was not low enough.

I have often wondered, if a CT is negative, how long can you assume that it will still be negative, if the surgery is not done immediately after the CT? A minute, an hour, a day, a month???

Again, my decision was a no brainer for me, as my surgery was about 3 weeks after the CT and I didn't want to take any chances. The ND was a cakewalk compared to the glossectomy. My neck is numb, but ask me if I care. I remember the smile I managed after the pathology report said all clear.

Note: I had no radiation and no chemo.