Hello chopsy1,

Well, you have come to the right place to talk about tongue cancer as we have a very popular thread with many people in there who have had tongue cancer and I am sure you will have a lot to say to one another. So have a read of Nicola2209's thread here. Nicola started her thread like you a couple of days after she was diagnosed two years ago and her post attracted 735 replies and the thread is still very much active so don't hesitate to respond there too so that others on that thread who also had tongue cancer can get notified and see your post. You will see they are a great bunch!

What I will do too is post a message on their thread to let them know about your post so hopefully someone will be along soon to share their story with you.

Best wishes,

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi there Chopsy and welcome to a very select and special club

Ok it's not one either of us have made by choice, but you are among a lot of great survivors who have been through the process you are now about to embark upon..... and more importantly we are all here living normal lives and now here to help you through the multitude of question and emotions you now have

Apart from myself there are Nicola, Guzzle, Simon, Irene, Debs and many more on here

I myself am now 1 year and a month out of treatment for tounge based cancer, I had no primary, no discomfort, just a small lump in the right limph gland under mt right cheek.

So tell us all and lets see where we can be of assistance

Vatch

Hi Chopsy1,

Sorry to hear of your problem. At least you appear to have discovered it nice and early.

If you have read the tongue cancer thread of Nicola you will see that many of us weren't

so lucky. Early detection makes so much difference.

To worry about your back is perfectly normal. I think most of us experiencing a new pain

immediately fear the worst after a cancer experience.  I am now 8 years on but still insist

on regular blood tests etc.

With such early detection I would expect treatment to be not too invasive or uncomfortable.

Keep us posted.

Good luck.

Colin 

Hi Chopsy1

Just a note to welcome you the most undesirable club ever, which at the same time is pretty damned select and special - well described Vatch ;)

You have certainly landed on the right page for support and experience-sharing, I can't rate this site highly enough!  I am the Irene mentioned by Vatch as one of Nicola's gang.

Your cancer has been detected at an early stage, so that is great news. Like Vatch, my first sign that something was amiss was a lump on my neck which turned out to be a secondary tumour with primary site identified after scans as left tonsil/base of tongue.  I hadn't a scoobie that there was anything amiss in my throat!  All that said,  I am now over 18 months post-treatment and leading a pretty normal life again (if I was ever normal?).  

Keep in touch and don't hesitate to ask questions.

Best wishes, Irene x

Had a call from the hospital asking me to go for a nack biopsy. I am assuming the scan has picked up something suspicious. Go back and see my consultant on Monday.

Chopsy

its most probably the the scan results were inconclusive and therefore a biopsy is need to confirm what it is.

it takes about two weeks to get the result back, well mine did anyway.

you are moving in the right direction to getting this sorted out my only advice to you at this point is don't go trawling the internet for answers there is a lot of stuff out that that will just confuse you.

if you need to know anything come and ask us, we can tell you first hand

Keep positive

vatch

Hi seen the doc and had an ultrasound scan. Looks as though I'll need a neck disection as well as more tongue surgery. 30 nodes removed apparently. Any advice on this would be appreciated recovery etc. Just want to crack on with it now

THANKS

Chopsy

sorry to hear this but at least you now know the route you must take for treatment.

i never had the neck operation but through my treatment met loads of people who did and although it's just another process they went through they all did and within 3 months you could not tell what they had been through.

as for tongue surgery Nicola is the one who can guide you through what is about to happen. She is a shining example of going through this process, iv'e met her and you would not guess or know what she has been through.

This is not an easy process you are about to embark upon and you are going to be hit for six, but there is light at the end of what is an overly long tunnel.

i wrote a blog about my throat cancer it helped me understand what I was going through, it also kept all my friends upto date with what was going through (that's a personal thing that you may or may not want to open up to) but more importantly it acts as a diary for those about to go through the process

if you are that way inclined it might help you...to write one yourself or just read mine. gammaraygary.wordpress.com/.../

keep talking choosy we are all here to help you through

Hi Chopsy, sorry to hear of this, probably wasn't the news you were hoping for and it's probably all a lot to take in, I know it was for me at the time. 

What kind of tongue surgery are you having? Are they removing some of your tongue? And will they replace it? Tongue surgery isn't pleasant but it's a short term period of it feeling a bit uncomfortable then it will become the norm for you. My surgery was two years ago and within a few weeks I was eating and drinking again. The neck dissection can also feel uncomfortable for a couple of weeks the like having a very stiff neck but it losens up, mine feels almost normal now. Are they doing both parts of the surgery at the same time? 

You really will manage with it all and be just fine again in no time! Where abouts are you? I I received all of my surgery and treatment in Bristol and it was fantastic, I'm sure yours will be too. What's the next stage for you? Are you waiting on more appointments? Let us know how you're doing.

Nicola xx