Kat,

I was 41 when I was diagnosed with stage I, poorly differentiated SCC of the tongue 2 years ago. I had about 25% of my tongue removed and 48 lymph nodes removed, which were all free of cancer. There is about a 20% chance that you can have cancer in your lymph nodes even if it does not show up on scans or cannot be felt clinically. The only way to know for sure is with a neck dissection which was no big deal for me. The worst side effect was that my lower lip was paralyzed on one side for about 5 months, but it did recover. My neck is numb above the incision and some of my cheek is numb on side of the dissection. Not bad trade off for the knowledge that this disease had not gotten a hold of my lymph nodes. Go to a comprehensive cancer center, they treat patients on medicaid every day, and get yourself a neck dissection. That is my best advice.

Good luck,

Barb