Ben, and Everybody,
I was fortunate in that my dentist who first saw the lesion on my tongue referred me immediately to an oral surgeon who took a biopsy. She then immediately sent me to an ENT/surgeon who did surgery on my tongue just a week after he saw me for the first time. He also sent me to a cancer center which conducted a PET scan prior to my surgery which determined there was lymph node involvement. I was also tested for HPV. (negative) I had all of my treatments at the cancer center, which is in Sandusky, Ohio, but is a branch of the Cleveland Clinic, listed by US News as one of the top ten cancer centers in the U.S. You have to have confidence in your doctors. Mine acted very quickly when I was first diagnosed, and my care has followed the same course of that of many of you. Everyone has differing views of their own care. We just have to trust our gut and our own instincts as to what works best for each of us. While my cancer center is in a relatively small community, it has the resources of the Cleveland Clinic to turn to if need be.