Hi,

Well Peter (my boyfriend) was diagnosed May 5th with T1 - N0 tongue squamous cell carcinoma cancer (1 cm tumor on tongue, and no by-touch felt swollen nodes, nor swollen visible in MRI). We have had THREE opinions (including the Stanford Tumor board), and all agree that ONLY getting the tongue cancer lesion (plus that clear margin that Brian talks of) is *too* naive. All docs have recommended the same thing: YES the MRI is clear, YES it's a tiny cancerous thing, and YES the xrays are clear -- But oral cancer is agressive, and all docs recommend he get a functional neck dissection (all 5 zones of the right side of his neck, as the cancer is on the right side of his tongue.) They're gonna pull all the nodes from that side, to check for micro metastasis. Some of surrounding fat, tissue, and bit of nerves will also make it outta there to the lab for testing.

Surgery is set for May 27th Tuesday.

A week from then, we hear the results of all those bits being sent to the lab...

XO,
Mary