Mum has oral cancer.

59F former smoker, moderate drinker.

Long story short(ish) my mother had a sore tongue for at least a month but dismissed it as she has had issues before and it's been no big deal. But, thank god, she had a dentist appointment and he saw an abnormality. He used his medical magic and got her in with a specialist the next day for a biopsy, and he took a biopsy. A week later (this Tuesday past) she was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma and booked in with a surgeon she'll see on the 24th and a full body CT scan (which she has now had and we don't know the results of.)

We're all terrified. Words like 'wide local excision' 'neck dissection' 'free flap reconstruction' and 'chemoradiotherapy' are being thrown around by the first specialist she saw. The saddest part of all, to me, is that she quit smoking two decades ago because she was terrified of getting mouth cancer and having her tongue cut out. I understand science has come a long way since and I've tried to relay that to her, but she cries and sleeps all day.

She's scared she won't be able to do her job anymore (she's a kindergarten teacher) and just scared, period. I've tried reaching out in other communities to no avail so I'm giving this one a shot because everyone seems nice, and can maybe provide some guidance on what's ahead (potentially) and most importantly how to look after her? Her husband works full time and I'm presently unemployed so i imagine I will be providing the most care, but I don't know. Any advice is appreciated.