Hello,

I am a dental hygienist and I can tell you that lumps can be lots of things besides cancer so don't panic. It is important to get it checked out and if it is cancer, then you need to get the best treatment possible, which, for oral cancer, is probably not at a military facilility. But just take things one step at a time and find out what is going on. If you need more information, we will all be here for you. Please let us know how things turn out.

But no matter what the outcome of this scare is, please stop using tobacco -- chances are this is your body's way of telling you it doesn't like having that stuff against your very delicate oral tissues every day. Take the warning at age 22 and avoid this oral cancer stuff -- it is no fun.

Barb