Oh dear. Have just come back from trip to see one of the surgeons. The cancer is a bit bigger than I thought and goes from inside cheek to against gum, over gum to floor of mouth near or under tongue. My spacial intelligence isn't all that good but he drew me a picture.

They're going to have to do a bigger flap than last time and cut open my chin/lip to get access to the lesion. So I'll have a scar up the front of my chin. He said I could be in hospital for up to four weeks depending on how fast I heal.

This surgeon didn't pull any punches. He said the biopsy results were misleading because this is a full scale cancer, lumpy and looking cancerous. It ain't no carcinoma in situ as the biopsy results initially indicated. He didn't seem to be too concerned about the nodes but of course they're coming out anyway.

Funnily enough I took it well. Having a friend with me helped although she looked shattered afterwards, poor thing. I think I expected worse in a way ... It still sounds fixable ... The surgeon is a good communicator and very confidence-inspiring. It's just a pity that the Christmas hiatus period robbed me of a clearer run up to this point. I had the biopsy on December 11!