Hi Christopher - How wonderful that your surgeon is so encouraging and that you found this site! My son had Stage 2 SCC on the lower right side of his tongue. The surgeon removed 1/6 of his tongue and he also had radiation treatments just to make sure and take care of the cells that may not have shown up on the PET/CT scan. On the scan it showed one lymph node affected but when they removed the 48 lymph nodes in his neck, all were clear. My son did say that the worst pain and discomfort was with the radiation treatments and that compared to the surgery, that the surgery was a "piece of cake"! Re the "frozen sections of the tongue" I don't know what the surgeon meant about "leaving it open" (maybe somebody else does) but as for functionality, my son has no problem with speaking and has learned to maneuver food around in his mouth to be able to swallow very well. It's important to remember that everyone reacts differently, though and there is a wealth of information on this site (just use the "search" function) so that you can be prepared for any questions you might have either with the doctor or the great and helpful advice you will get from the compassionate people on this site.