Kat,


Welcome to this site -- I'm sorry you need to be here, but I hope we can help.

I was a bit older than you (39), but still relatively young for this disease when I was diagnosed. As I was a non-smoker, several doctors had dismissed my very obvious symptoms as "nothing serious", until I found an oral surgeon who recognized what he was looking at and did a biopsy that showed SCC of the left lateral tongue. My surgical team did not only a partial glossectomy to remove the tumor, but also a modified radical neck dissection to remove many of the surrounding lymph nodes for biopsy. Even though those nodes came back clear, my head and neck team at the nearest comprehensive cancer center felt strongly that I should proceed with radiation soon after surgery because of my relatively young age and the fact that the pathology report showed the tumor could be fairly aggressive.

I definitely agree with Gary that you should get an opinion from a major cancer center (you can find a list of NCI-designated ones in "Other Resources" on this site). There are factors such as your age, the stage of your tumor and degree of aggressiveness that should enter into any treatment decision, and there are many of us here who have good reason to believe that the best results tend to come when you hit this disease hard at the earliest possible point.

Please feel free to come back with more questions and let us know how you are doing.

Cathy