Hi Everyone,

My name is Martha.  I''m 55 years old.  Mother of three.  In late April I was dianosed with oral cancer, cancer in the tongue.  I have never smoked or drank.  It puzzled my doctors.  I was having dental work.  For a couple of months I kept telling my dentiest about a sore I had on the right side of my tongue.  She kept saying I was bitting my tongue.  She said that when the work was done, she would do a mouth guard.  Too late.  I woked up one day and it was nasty.  I saw my primary care doctor who told me straight out it was cancer and sent me for a biopsy.  I walked out of his office in tears but still had hope it woud not be cancer.  I got that biopsy and it was.  I was devastated and so was my family.  I went to a surgeon that had treated my son.  He sent me for a CT Scan and a MRI.  It came back clear.  It was only in that part of my tongue.  On June 5th I went in for a partial glossectomy.  He told me if the margins were clear, I wouldn't need radiation.  Thank God they came back clear. I have to see him every month.  That part of the tongue that was removed, was reconstructed.  It feels very strange.  I'm lucky I can talk and chew.  This was the most scary thing that has ever happened to me.  When you're told you have cancer, your life stops. The fear sets in, the devastating thought that you might not see your family ever again.  I can't put into words what I felt.  Eventhough I am clear I'm still afraid that one day it might return.  Anyone that has a sore on their tongue, please do not neglected it.  If when it first started, my dentist would have sent me for a biopsy it woud have been just pre-cancerous cell not stage 1.

Thank you all and I hope to be part of this community and contribute as best as I can.