I am so terribly sorry for what you are going through! As the others have said, though, this is a wonderful place for support.

Your situation sounds a little similar to mine in that you had several benign plaques removed before the SCC was diagnosed. My total cancer area (after biopsy and two excisions) is less than 2 cm and my doctor told me this is a good place to be. He said that SCC is usually grouped at 0-2 cm, 2-4 cm, 4-6 cm, etc. The smaller the lesion the more likely that you don't have spreading elsewhere. This is why he didn't recommend a neck dissection, chemo or radiation for me. But even if I have a recurrance and eventually wind up having to have these I know from the example of all the fine folks here that it can be handled.

My oncologist ordered a PET scan after initial diagnosis. This measures the metabilization of sugar within the tissue and is an excellent indicator of lymph node involvement.I now know that I don't presently have metastasis to the lymph nodes or anywhere else. I would follow ChristineB's recommendation and get a scan once the inflammation has calmed down.

The speech too will improve. My impairment is worse than after the excision in October but its improving daily. Sometimes I remind myself of Sylvester the cat with my schloppy ssh's and I couldn't roll an r if my life depended on it. But today I learned that if I put a t in front of the r I can begin to coax the tongue into action. My biggest chuckle came with the suggestion that I put my tongue into my cheek and push. Are you serious? I can just barely get past my teeth let alone reach my cheek. But its a goal and one I keep reaching for. :-)

Life has handed you an awful lot in the last year and I'm sure you are feeling terribly overwhelmed. You sound strong to me however and I'm sure that once you sit down and take a deep breath and allow yourself to feel all the caring and support coming to you from these forums that you will find the strength to fight.

Wishing you all the best in the days ahead!!