Hi I'm not sure how recently you've been in a ct or PET machine but the ones we have look like a doughnut not a tube... So there not really an "in" - usually I just close my eyes and meditate through it. The reason I asked initially about the base of tongue/oral tongue thing is it sounds like an oral tongue cancer which is the same surgery I had and generally has a different cause from base of tongue which is down your throat. One is often HPV related (BOT) where as oral tongue can have a few different causes (some unknown) I too had a tumor removed from my tongue and was grafted from my wrist. I also had a neck dissection. I would find out if that is also in the cards for you - hint - it should be. Good luck on the scan - another hint - those results can be accessed usually win 24 hours make sure you get back into the drs. office for the results ASAP. Another spot of info - you can ask your dr. to confirm this, but just because nodes don't show up on a scan doesn't mean they are clean there can be microscopic cancer there that doesn't show up until it reaches a certain size. (That's why I mentioned the neck dissection - assuming you've haven't had one) the surgery itself believe it or not isn't that bad usually you're numb afterwards particularly if you've had a neck dissection. The breaking of the jaw was something I managed to avoid, though I agreed to it if that was the only way he could get all of the tumor. I'm saying all of this not to scare you but inform you - you want to level both guns at it if you can. And do ask about rads again. It has been done many times - hugs and good luck on the scan.