Max,

Yes, my treatment is in Canada. I live in Edmonton, Alberta. My family is in Winnipeg, which is a 13 hour drive in good weather.

My tumour is left side too, same deal, stick out the tongue and you can see it, although mine is 3.5-4 cm. It's normal coloured (not black or white or some other weird colours I found during my research), and it kind of looks like what your lip looks likes if you bit it.

My tests were a parade of various doctors, blood work, biopsy and a PET and CT scan, along with what feels like a hundred scopes up the nose and down the throat. The only one that hurt was the biopsy, and that was just for a couple of minutes.

I was supposed to find out today my surgery date, but no call, so still waiting.

Be careful what sites you go to for research (the ones that end in .org are generally the better ones). I made the mistake of general google searches and scared the crap out of myself unnecessarily. When you do tell your family, warn them about that too. My dad did the same search and got very upset.

Remarkably, life has not changed much - I get up, go to work, meet up with friends, do laundry, etc. I'm flying to Toronto tomorrow to go see the Blues Jays play the Yankees.

This is a bump in the road, and I have found that humour is a pretty good coping mechanism for me. I'm a lawyer and I tell people that all my collegues let out a collective sigh of relief that finally something is going to shut me up for a while, LOL. That, and it's like having a new wardrobe, because I can fit into clothes that I had put away into the "someday when I don't like ice cream anymore" closet. Of course, now I eat the ice cream, guilt free, and get to wear the clothes!

I know it's hard Max, and it seems unfair, but remember that this is a fixable problem, and everyone here, and everyone who cares about you will be rooting for you!