Welcome to OCF! I am hoping you do not have a need for our services but if you would have oral cancer then we are the best people to help get you thru whatever you are facing.

At this point, you should be seeing an ENT who specializes in treating oral cancer (OC). There are different types of ENTs. You do NOT want to see the type who primarily puts tubes in young childrens ears. Whenever you get the call back, ask if the doc treats OC patients and how many go thru their office in any given week or month. You want someone that has lots of experience. You may be able to find someone in your area thru our free OC screening page.

Its likely to take several weeks before you find out what is going on in the back of your mouth. Without a biopsy and special testing its not possible to know what it is or if it is HPV+. Sure the doc can tell you what they "think" it could be but its only an educated guess. Only by taking a small sample and examining it thru a microscope will a pathologist tell you what it is. They may or may not also check for HPV. To be honest, a tumor for an OC patient that is HPV+ is a very good thing. That means your chances of getting thru this easily and with a less chance of recurrence are greater. Regardless of what caused you to have the "spot", treatments are pretty much the same with surgery and/or radiation with or without chemo are what eliminates OC tumors. But thats getting wayyyy ahead of myself with discussing treatments before you know what your spot is. One more thing about HPV... there is still so much that is not known about HPV and research is ongoing to learn more (OCF supports HPV research and has from the very beginning of discovering that disease). While HPV is considered an STD, it can lay dormant in the body for years before turning into one of the very few strains out of hundreds of strains that could cause cancer. Out of several hundred kinds of HPV, only 2 have the capability of changing into cancer, most people clear HPV from their bodies before it does any damage. Most people dont even know they have it or where they got it from so dont think too much into possibly being HPV+.

Since you are likely looking at a 3 office visit and waiting probably a good 3+ weeks for the first appointment and at least a week between appointments prepare yourself to wait patiently. Our saying is "its only a spot until the biopsy says its not" will hopefully help keep you from panicking too much. Keeping yourself extra busy with things that need alot of close attention also helps pass the time in a positive way. Start a hobby, read books or anything else you enjoy to help you stay super busy so your mind doesnt "go there". Just remember, worrying has never changed a test result or done anything else that is positive. Do your very best to avoid it as much as possible. Oh yeah, one more thing... (we all are do this one too) checking your mouth in the mirror several times a day doesnt help you to be positive either. Also Dr Google can send your anxiety thru the roof so you may want to avoid that as well.

Hopefully your biopsy turns out to be nothing serious. We're here to lean on if it would be cancer, then we'll help you get thru it. Best wishes with everything!!!


PS... Im very glad to see you are not using tobacco at this time. There are so many known cancer causing things added to tobacco that its very possible something in there has caused your "spot". Please let this be your wake up call to never return to using tobacco in any form, even e-cigs. Most people dont know that e-cgis that have claimed they do not have any added nicotine or addictive ingredients when tested actually do have those things added no matter what the package says.