Recently diagnosed with oral SCC...and terrified.....retired in Ocala fl

Hi Terry t. I was diagnosed in June 2019, 8 months after I retired too. Was diagnosed with a Stage 1 SCC of the left tongue. Had partial glossectomy July 22nd last year. Just had my 6th month check up which was fine. Been troubled with LPR (Laryngo Pharyngeal Reflux) more than anything since my surgery. It is a scary diagnosis. Terrifying. I felt the same way when I was first diagnosed not knowing what to expect, what was in-store down the road, and would I be a able to cope. Knowing you have support here with people who have been where you are now is a good start. There’s so much to learn here on this forum site from others. Have you had surgery or pending surgery? Keep us updated. We’re hear for you.

Terry: It is a scare, I know. Get a strong team on your side. Oral cancer is rare so go to a CCC with Head and Neck specialists. If it is distant from Ocala (to Tampa or Jax), you will be able to get followup treatment closer to you (Gainesville).
Is it HPV or smoke/drink? If the latter, you'll need to abstain from both-seriously.

There is a better future for you than your worst fears project, and if the cancer was detected early enough (and you have the right team), you'll get time to enjoy retirement.

Welcome to OCF, Terry! Im so sorry to read about your recent diagnosis!!! It sure wasnt easy hearing those dreaded words.... "Im sorry, you have cancer". Luckily, you're in the very best place to get info and support to help get you thru whatever you may face in the upcoming weeks/months. OCF is a group of oral cancer (OC) patients/survivors and caregivers who openly share what we have been thru and everything we've picked up here that has to do with OC.

Theres a million things I could tell you to prepare for whatever your medical team advises. One of the best things you can do is learn about your to read thru posts here on our online public forum and also the main OCF site which has page after page of up to date, important OC info. By learning everything you can from a reliable resource, it will help you to become a strong advocate for yourself. Plus you will better understand what you are facing to hopefully help you to manage your fear of the unknown.

Now that you have found OCF, you are among family here so please understand we're here to help and its perfectly ok to lean on us or vent when you need to. Its all perfectly normal when someone is given the bad news they have OC to feel like your life is now out of control and your overwhelmed with anxiety. If you have selected your medical team, I suggest starting by asking what your treatment location offers their newly diagnosed cancer patients. A therapist familiar with cancer patients should be a tremendous help and you may consider anxiety meds as well. Sometimes those types of prescription meds take weeks to work so you may want to get moving on finding the right mental health professionals and scheduling an appointment.

Eating all your favorite foods is something you should start doing asap!!! Whatever treatment plan you may have its likely to play a major roll in impacting your ability to eat, drink, swallow. For most OC patients/survivors the difficulties I mentioned are temporary issues but it sure can be rough to get thru those kinds of big changes. We're here with you every step of the way. Going into treatment for OC, you definitely do NOT want to have cravings that could take weeks, maybe even months before you can eat whatever you have been craving. Its very disheartening to wait weeks to eat a favorite food then due to OC, treatments, meds, side effects, after effects, etc you can barely taste the food and it doesnt taste anything like what you remember it should taste like. Eat now, desserts too. If you are on the slim side, gaining a few pounds would be something you should consider. Weight loss is a major red flag your doctors will pay attention to as it means your intake is not enough to sustain you. No matter if you are 100 pounds or 400, the goal is to not lose any weight during treatments and/or recovery which is very challenging. I cant stress enough just how vitally important eating will become down the road so do yourself a huge favor and eat everything now, so you have no regrets later.

Hang in there!!!