Hey Everyone, I'm Aurora LaChance. On February 10th, 2025, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Tongue Cancer. This came as a huge shock to my family and me as I do not meet any of the risk factors. I never smoked, I am not a heavy drinker, I have no family history of tongue cancer, and I am generally considered very young for this to be happening at 26 years old. I am just at the beginning of my treatment journey at this point, but due to the nature of this type of cancer, I had to stop my work as an engineering project manager before treatment began. Due to the speed of growth and the size of the tumor on my tongue, I am mostly unable to speak and at the very least cannot speak clearly at all at this point. On top of that, the pain has been constant and severe, impacting my daily life majorly, especially when eating or drinking. I will unfortunately not be able to return to work until treatment has completed and I have recovered, again due to the nature of this type of cancer. I will be receiving treatment at Dana Farber in Boston to overcome this. The team that I am working with there is excellent, and I know that I am in good hands. In general, treatment will consist of surgery, radiation, and potentially chemotherapy depending on the results of the surgery.