Hello to all! This seems like a great community, and while I am not happy to have to join it, so glad it is here!

I am new to the wonderful world of oral cancer and trying to learn as much as I can and what to expect. Of course everyone's experiences are different but I'm sure they all have the same underlying factors.

Anyway, my name is Cathy and I just turned 50. For a couple months I had a sore on the side of my tongue but chalked it up to a rub against a sharp molar. Never gave it much thought except it was annoying. Thought it was getting better for a bit but then started getting worse. I decided to have it checked by my dentist and she sent me right over to the oral surgeon. He checked it out and said he's seen enough of them to expect that it's cancerous. He did a biopsy and sure enough it was. He said it was squamous cell carcinoma but I don't remember him saying anything about a stage, and I forgot to ask.

I was then sent to a head and neck surgeon and surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday, July 15th. They will remove a portion of my tongue (he said it was the size of an olive. If they can close it up they will if not then they will do a skin graft from my thigh. They are also removing all the lymph nodes from the left side of my neck. After the pathology report they will decide on the next course of treatment, whether radiation therapy or follow me clinically. He said I would only be in the hospital a day or two, which is so much different from everything I read, so I'm viewing that as a good thing.

So, that's my story. I'm reading everything I can to gain as much knowledge and expectations as possible. You all seem to be a wealth of information and very happy I found this place.