June 26 2006 my husband Johnny was diagnosed stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma base of the tongue. On 7-3-06 he had a 9 hour surgery they removed 1/3 of the base of his tongue, 18 nodes 3 were positive. Following surgery he had 30 radiation treatments as well as Erbitux.June 23 2010 during his regular checkup a new tumor was found. On 8/23/10 he underwent 18.5 hour surgery to remove the tumor, nodes(0 pos.) and Epiglottis/Tongue reconstruction with free radial forearm flap on 8/23/10. The surgeon sent 18 frozen sections to the pathologist during the surgery. The day before he was sent home we were told the pathologist made an error and one of the margins from the back of his mouth had microscopic cancer cells. He was scheduled to have cells removed, but 4 days prior his CAT scan showed a unruptured aneurysm. Finally on 12-6-10 surgery was finished. He has done very well. He passed his swallow test 3 weeks after the first surgery. His doc wants his treach to stay in until he has a PET scan done on 2-3-10. His energy level is low and his moods fluctuate. Overall i'd give hin a 7 outta 10.