Hi there,
I'm new to this forum. I'm 33 years old from Melbourne Australia. A rountine dental examinaiton 4 months ago found a white painless lesion on the base of my tongue. A biopspy showed it to be moderate cell dysplasia and surgical removal followed. SO I had a small slice of tongue removed in day surgery. Unfortunatley the pathology results of the bit of tongue that they cut out came back as having very small cancer 'foci' (squamous cell carcinoma). So then I was sent for a million different tests. MRI scan showed 2 enlarged lymph nodes (but can't be felt from manual examination of neck) which the drs have said show signs of 'necrosis' and are now recommending I have my lymph nodes removed and more of my tongue removed.
I feel that the lymph nodes are a red herring- the cancer in my mouth was really early stages (everyone has said how lucky it was to get it so early) so surely it would not have gone to the lymph nodes yet? fine needle aspiration of the lymph nodes was negative. I don't want to have unnecesary surgery. ANy adive? experiences of anything similar?
thanks in advance smile

Monica,33 Mum of 3. Former smoker
SCC right lateral tongue. Intially thought to be cell dysplasia and dx as SCC after surgical excision.
Nov 2010- partial glossectomy (1cm in width), partial neck dissection. Margins clear, nothing found in nodes- YAY! Benign tumor on saliva gland.