So, I am 34 years old, female. I was a CNA and in nursing school in 2010 at the age of 25, when 6 weeks before the end of spring semester, I had to withdraw to have cancer treatment for stage 3 tongue cancer (squamous cell carcinoma, SCC). I had never even heard of oral or tongue cancer before, other than gum or jaw from chewing tobacco.
I saw my dentist and oral surgeons for 5 months starting October 2009, when I had 4 damaged taste buds show up in a row. A week later, those went away. A week after that, a ridge had formed on the right side of my tongue, back by my molars, that looked like I was chewing on my tongue. So I technically started with my dentist in November, at a cleaning. I mentioned it, and said that it hurt, and was causing eating and speaking to be difficult. She assured me i had nothing to worry about, that it didn’t look like anything serious, and I was young, so not to worry about it. That I probably was chewing on my tongue when I slept, because I was stressed.

I informed her that it had been there for about a month, including the damaged taste buds, and that it never healed or felt better. Again, she wasn’t concerned. But dental hygienist talked her into referring me to an oral surgeon, just to be safe.
I saw him, and he said same thing, too young, didn’t look like it could be anything serious, that I was probably chewing on my tongue when i slept because I was stressed. He gave me a steroid gel to apply to it 4 times a day, for 2 weeks, and to come back after that if it hadn’t gotten better.
I got 3 days in, and it hurt more. So I called oral surgeon back, he said to stop using, take 1000 mg of Tylenol 4 times a day for the pain and made a follow up appointment.
At follow up appointment he then said it could be a fungus, Lichen Planus, and gave me an antifungal (difflucan), to use for 1 weeks, and a follow up appointment.
I went back for that, it was still there, hadn’t noticed any change.
So he said they would take a biopsy