I am a newly diagnosed patient. About a month ago the dental hygienist discovered a white spot on the bottom of my tongue. They had me return in two weeks and when it had not yet healed referred me to an oral surgeon who biopsied the lesion. He lest a little bit of the margin in case it was cancer so that anyone he referred me to would know where it was.

One week later (Monday) I got the news. It is a well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma that is one mm thick. They have referred me to a head and neck surgeon that I will see at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in about 3 hours.

All of this is really overwhelming me. I am wondering if anybody has experience with Swedish or is there a better facility in western Washington?

What kind of tests can I expect ? How worried should I be ?