Thank you, everyone for the warm welcome. It's unfortunate to meet everyone like this, but still, it is wonderful to meet such compassionate people.

I also wanted to go into more detail about my cancer so maybe it can help someone else. Sorry if this is a little long...

I started to have an ulcer on the right side of my tongue around October 2003. I never thought much of it, I was too busy trying to graduate from West Virginia University. After a while, it really started to bother me so I went to the University hospital (dumb mistake). They said it was an ulcer, not to worry, and gave me some kind of orajel crap. So I let it go for another month because I didn't know any better to be scared. Soon, the right side of my tongue was swollen with a lump and it was hard to eat on that side and sometimes hard to speak. So, around Thanksgiving I was in so much pain, I made an appointment with my family doctor. She didn't really know what it was so she referred me to an oral surgeon, just in case. Still, at this time, I never thought it to be cancer. I didn't even think cancer was an option, to be honest. Anyhow, I went to the oral surgeon and by the look on his face, I knew something was wrong. I teared up even before he said I needed a biopsy. So he took a biopsy there and said it would be 5 days until he would find out my results. After that painful experience, the man forgot to give me painkillers for my tongue so my mom called him. The scary thing was that he told her he had a feeling it was cancer, but he never told me that. So, 5 days pass and I get a call from no one other than my mother telling me that the doctor called her to tell her I have cancer. I was furious. I was angry because of the whole cancer situation and even more angry that the doctor called my mom and not me. I am an adult and I had a right to hear it from him. I'm still angry with him today. That was Friday, December 5. I will never forget that date because it was my best friend's birthday and it was 2 days before my college graduation. That whole next week, which was my college's finals week, I travelled to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. (WVU was wonderful for waiving all of my finals.) We had to rush things because I was going to be kicked off my parents' insurance because A). I was graduating and B). I was turning 23 on December 22nd.
Insurance was also a problem because I had to have a catscan done at Canonsburg General Hospital because UPMC wasn't covered. Our health insurance also refused a pet-scan even though all three doctors appealed their decision. The insurance company said that a cat-scan was enough proof and that the pet-scan was only viewed as experimental. Sadly, the insurance company was way wrong because the tumor, when felt by DR.C, was practically the whole right side of my tongue, was only showing up as 9 mm. That's a major difference, but they still would not approve it.
The whole process was a mess because my main doctor, DR.J, was at UPMC and he was the one to recommend radiation along with brachytherapy. He wouldn't be doing them, but another professional in the same hospital would, DR.C. But of course, health insurance is a pain and they would not pay for my radiation to be done at UPMC. DR.C was under their coverage, but the hospital was not. So I was referred to Allegheny General Hospital. That doctor, Dr. T, was my favorite of the three, maybe because he had some personality and I saw some compassion in his soul. The other two doctors were more straight-laced and professional-based. I had 29 IMRT radiation treatments and yes, I was always the youngest one there. The other patients were so nice, though. And sadly, they all seemed to be in worse pain than me. Seeing the others really made me take pity off of myself and caused me to pray hard for them. I finished February 11th and was making my way towards brachytherapy. All three of the doctors sent a letter of appeal so that I could have the brachy done at UPMC and it worked. Brachy was done on March 1 and I was out by March 8. Dr. C was the one that did the brachy and Dr. J did my tracheostomy.
Even though I was in pain, I still found a way to get my butt out and take a road trip to play in a rugby tournament in Savannah, Georgia. I played every minute of every game. I wasn't quite as good as I used to be, but I was 30 lbs. lighter and just out of surgery. I still had my trach hole, for goodness sake!! lol.

Soon, I started to feel the symptoms again. I had pain in my tongue and it ran straight into my ear. I would go around all day popping my pain meds every hour I could and holding the right side of my face in pain. It was awful. I had a follow-up and Dr.C said everything was fine, but I was so sore that he couldn't get a great look at me. I knew the cancer wasn't gone. Believe people when they say that they know their own bodies!! About a month later, my pain got worse and I noticed that the right side of my tongue looked as if something was eating away at it. My mom even noticed that my breath was smelling a little foul. Plus, my right tonsil was in a lot of pain. We called Dr. C and his evil, and yes, I do mean evil, nurse told my mom not to worry, that I was fine, and it was "normal". Two days later, we went to the emergency room because none of my doctors were in, and the ENT specialist said I needed another biopsy. Right then and there, I broke down cuz I knew the cancer was back. We went to see Dr. C the following week and the evil nurse kind of scolded my mom for not listening to her and for taking me to the emergency room. Too bad she wasn't there when Dr. C looked in my mouth and left the room to schedule me another biopsy with Dr. J's partner, the wonderful Dr. M. We saw Dr. M and even before the biopsy, he said he needed to remove that part of my tongue. He ordered a cat-scan and even had a pet-scan approved at West-Penn Hospital. I met with Dr. M again and that's when he gave the bad news that I would neeed 2/3 of my tongue removed. He said he was sure I would be able to eat and swallow like normal after recovery and my speech would get better with therapy.
My surgery was May 5 (cinco de mayo!) My surgery took about 12 hrs. It took so long because Dr. M was trying to save as much tongue as possible, so he would cut a little and then do a biopsy. It also took long because a plastic surgeon was in to take the skin off my forearm and create a flap for the empty space of my tongue. I should've only been in the hospital for 10 days, but I got huge infection and I was stuck in the hospital for 3 weeks. That can drive a person mad! I won't lie, so yes, it was painful. It wasn't so much that my tongue was in pain, but my neck was in pain from them removing my lymph nodes.
I am still in a little pain today, mainly my neck. I still see Dr. M every 2-3 weeks. He is such a wonderful doctor. I am lucky to have found a doctor that can be both extremely professional and straight-to-the-point, yet absolutely caring. Sometimes I think that it is God's plan for me to have dealt with this cancer now at this age because the timing seems right. I mean, I just graduated from WVU and I didn't really have a plan after graduation except for maybe grad school. And also, I have my wonderful parents here to care for and support me. As frustrating as it is, I try to see things in a more positive way.

Sorry this was so long. I just wanted to get a little more info out there. Thank you, everyone!