Hi, I am Betsy and I found your wonderful website on Sept.9/05. What a great source of hope, inspiration and information it is.

I had SCC of the right lateral tongue removed in 2003 with clear margines. Tumor was 2 mm. Stage 1. I was told that chemo or RT was not needed by my ENT. She has been following up every 3 months with visual app'ts and Ct and bloodwork yearly and 09/04 I was biopsied again with margins that showed mild dysplesia. then I had a bite biopsy in May /05 as changes were visually noted and it showed severe dysplesia but no cancer. Then in August I had a whitish plaque at the surgical area and another bite biopsy that showed cancer in situ.

My Ent refered me to London, Ont. to the Head and Neck Oncology Center at Victoria Hospital. I was lcky to get in on a cancellation in 2 days.
After seeing the team, I was quite shocked to find that I had a mass in my right side of my neck. The ENT or my family Dr. didn't notice it.

Needless to say I was floored. He also told me that he felt the cancer was further advanced then the biopsy had shown and I would need a right hemiglossectomy and a right neck dissection and a tracheotomy and a radial free flap reconstruction. I thought he was talking to someone else! Then he told me the op would take 10 hours and that it would be the easy part! That ast 6-8 week post-op I would begin Radiation and possibly chemo depending on what the lymph nodes showed.

I also lost a brother to SCC of the tongue 15 years ago and he fought it for 5.5 years. He was 32 at diagnosis and 38 when he died. I was 43 when first diagnosed and 46 now. After all I saw him through I didn't even want surgury. That was until I found your website. The words and information I have read here has changed my mind. That and a conversation I had with my brother's widow on Friday night has made me realize that I must fight this head on and hit it hard. They want to operate in 2 weeks!

Again thanks to all of you brave people for sharing your stories and support you may well have saved my life!!!!

I will keep u updated as I begin this new journey.
Betsy