I know you are upset and worried. Im a mom and I know how it feels to think "what will happen to my children?". Take it step by step. You need to take care of yourself so you can care for others.

Here is more info. I am also going to give you a link to the main OCF pages where it talks about diagnosis. Too often new members are so hungry for instant info that they miss checking the main pages where there is tons of important things to read.

A FNA is not as good as a regular biopsy. Yes, it will be sore for a while. If I had to take a guess, I would say the first week will be tender and then it will gradually improve. You could be sore for 2 weeks, never know or maybe you are one of the lucky ones who bounce back quickly and in 3 days you are ok. If I were in your shoes, I would line up helpers for the first 4 or 5 days. Not that you will be incapacitated, but you may not be feeling up to caring for the demands of young children from morning til night.

It is very important to get this checked. Not that I would think it is cancer. That cant be diagnosed over the internet. I am basing this statement on what you said, that it has been there for a while. First you noticed a patch then the lump. Not all tongue cancers can be seen with looking in a mirror, many are located in the base of tongue where its not possible to look. I cant predict what your doc will do in regards to if they will excise it or do a biopsy. Dont worry! Whatever they do will be a step in the right direction (unless they dont biopsy it). A biopsy is the only way to know for certain if it is cancer.

Wishing you all the best with this!

Diagnosis (from main OCF pages)