Hi John,
I am really sorry to hear about this. I was 26 years old and my tongue cancer was discovered exactly like yours. I had a canker sore on my tongue that would not heal and after 4 months of going back and forth to the doctors, they performed a biopsy and discovered it was cancer. In April, 2011 it was stage 1 and I had a small piece of my tongue removed and a radical neck dissection. Unfortunately, my cancer returned and has been very aggressive. I am stage 3 now and had 60% of my tongue removed. I have a feeding tube and can't speak. I start radiation and chemo in 4-6 weeks. I am 27 now and struggling everyday.