Hello all,
After reading the instructions to this discussion board (which is very good by the way, thank you so much!) I thought I would write a brief introduction of myself.
I am a tongue cancer survivor since 2005. Diagnosed with a small tumour in left oral tongue, I underwent partial glossectomy two weeks after diagnosis. The only treatment I had was this operation plus just a few lymph nodes (sentinels) in the neck. No radiation, no chemo. Cancer caught early. At the age of 30, as mother of a 1 year old child, what a blessing
After this I have been cancer-free for almost eight years now. So I am very lucky.
The cancerous process was caught early due to another problem in the mouth area. I went to the dentist to seek relief to a persistent pain in my mouth/jaw. In the inner dental arch area to be more precise. (In retrospect, I think this pain could have been neuralgia from an operation involving my third molars on that side.)
This pain was never diagnosed, the dentist had no clue. However, what the dentist did pay attention to was a large white patch in my left lateral oral tongue. I had not noticed such a patch and even if I had I would not have been aware of its significance.
The leukoplakia was kept in observation. After one year it turned cancerous, with a visible small crater-like bump developing on the tongue. At this point I had myself well informed and was kept in good check, so the process moved on quickly and I was operated when the tumour was microinvasive between T0 and T1 (classified as T1, however).
My surgeon said that it was only a matter of weeks before the cancer would have spread elsewhere in my body.
The tongue operation went well and my tongue healed quickly. No problems with speaking or swallowing, I have been almost normal ever since.
I have been blessed so I don't want to complain; but as it happens I have had one persisting problem with the tongue, which after all these years has now been getting bigger. I will tell about it a bit later.
With kind regards to all fellow sufferers,
Mariaxx
