I am interested in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Awareness

Hi! My name is Angela, and I'm a cancer survivor. Back in December of 2018, when I was first diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the dorsal tongue, I thought that this couldn't be happening to me. I was only 42 years old at the time, and thought "what if this is the end?" I went through my surgery where they did a partial glossectomy and removed a quarter of my tongue. That was when my journey really began! I had to heal from my surgery before anything else could be done. So after I was healed up, I proceeded to go to speech therapy where I had to learn how to talk again. This took a financial toll on my husband and I, driving 3 times a week to therapy. I was also only able to eat blended foods, so I took to blending fruits and juices to sustain myself. As we all know, fruits and fruit juices are some of the most expensive things to buy. I had to though! With what money I had, I made it work and I can only say that it was by the grace of God that I did so. Nine months later, I was again diagnosed with cancer, but this time it was in the lymph nodes f my neck. It had spread and no one knew it. Not until I found a mass in my neck and they did a biopsy on the mass. I was told, once again, it's cancer. My husband and I were already broke from the first cancer ordeal, then to top it off, it was our slow time of the year for our business. I ended up having a right neck dissection, where they took out the saliva glad and 16 other lymph nodes as well. My heart was broken at this point. It's not that a deformity really bothers me, but it has taken its toll on me. Just in the past few weeks, I finally had a pet scan done, but they still cannot rule out a recurrence of a cancer tumor in my neck. So, time goes by and I do the best I can, but the thought is always with me! Update: The PET scan did reveal that I had another mass in my neck. A mass that had spread from the lymph nodes from the last surgery I had, and yet again, no one knew about it. So, on I went to surgery #3. This surgery wasn't as bad as the neck dissection, but it's had a lasting effect on me. After this time of being diagnosed with cancer, a round of radiation was recommended. I wasn't told much about this radiation they wanted to do, but I went through with it. I was then sent to a local Cancer Center, where without me knowing, they'd mold a plastic mask of my head, face, neck, and chest. That wasn't the only thing I didn't know what was coming. Once the mask was molded and set, it was put on me 5 days a week for 7 weeks, and then bolted to a table so that I would not move while I was having a treatment. My then oncologist refused to put in a feeding tube, so the weight came off like I'd never seen. Within that 7 weeks, I lost 105lbs. I looked deathly. I felt that way too. I had no interest in eating, drinking, etc. Sleep is the only thing I wanted at this point. Time passed and I regained some of my strength. I started living again!