Hi there - well I'm with everyone else. Ditch your dr.s and get to a CCC asap. You are very very lucky it hasn't spread beyond your tongue. This cancer can be aggressive. I was a stage II... basically meaning the tumor was larger than 2cm (marginally) I had no spread. This was after years of messing around with the dr.s. and having a negative biopsy that came back irritated tissue, allergies, inflammation caused by a molar, etc... The final dx was cancer. I went to the TOP ENT/Otolaryngologist/surgical oncologist, and he didn't mess around, he removed a third of my tongue, rebuilt it with skin from my arm, took out 40 of my lymph nodes, and sent me for radiation and chemo, since the area never healed and by the time I got to surgery there was a node involved. They keep burning it or cutting it out but it sounds like they aren't getting it all. Different drs classify things differently, and chances are one dr looking at the tissue may see cancer some may see severe displasia - also when removing tissue for a biopsy the results are only as good as the tissue taken, so they may get scar tissue, etc, but not the area of active cancer. Best to go to someone who sees this all the time and will be proactive. Sadly if it gets beyond your tongue and into a bunch of lymph nodes then the chase is on. And while it sounds like it's well differentiated (slow growing) once it moves it can become aggressive. Please go to a CCC and get an opinion there. Usually, in the medical profession, a recurrence, within a year or two means they didn't get it all to begin with - which is why the area is not healing properly from the outset.

best of luck. and I know radiation is not something to look forward to its a bugger, but you are avoiding the one thing that could put a stop to the cancer. Admittedly the fall out is not fun by any standard, but it's worth it if it does it's job.