Well, I saw the doctor today and at first he had me pretty scared. Talking about removing teeth, bone and reconstruction and that it could be Cancer and all. He sent me for a CT Scan of my head and neck. He was reading the results and said the neck came back clean and so did my teeth. The one exception was underneath a bridge I have. He said the bridge made the scan somewhat unreadable on the scan. I have to go to the dentist to have the brige broken off but oh well for now. He said it could be a tumor but also could be some bone left over from the tooth extraction. He thinks it is all Dysplasia and I am scheduled for Surgery on Friday to remove it all and he will send it of for biopsy after the surgery. He said the bone looks good so there is no need to remove any teeth or bone. I will be on soft foods for two weeks but after that I should be clear. I am just terrified of being put to sleep. I guess because I cannot control it.I want to thank you all for your advice. The doctor I went to see is awesome. He had a proactive attitude and set everything up for today and surgery for Friday. Even when the nurse told him he did not have room for me for Surgery on Friday, he told her to make room. I know that there have been some unfavorable opinions about Kaiser, including mine, but it could have taken days to weeks to get the scans and see the necessary people to get the Surgery done. This doctor is awesome and I told him I would try and find a way to rate him or something like that. I guess I will find out for sure on Friday.

Your doctor sounds just wonderful! My son's doctor regularly "made room" for patients when it was needed and it was so appreciated. I know what you mean about being put to sleep but I'll bet if you tell your doctor about this, he could put your mind at ease. There might be something he could give you to help you relax. When I had a colonoscopy a few years back I had the same feeling about being put to sleep but it went so well and whatever they gave me just before really did put me at ease. Hope everything goes just perfect for you on Friday!

I hope I am doing this right. I am new to this forum however my husband is a esophageal cancer survivor of 28 years. His epiglottis was removed at that time and he has had recurring pneumonias throughout the years. As he has aged they have become more frequent and now he was diagnosed with a virulent bacteria called pseudomonas,causing his latest pneumonia, which is resistant to antibiotics. It has been a struggle but he has gotten through this but now has a PEG to give nutrition through his stomach. He is depressed that he will never again taste food again. He has failed his swallow tests 3 times and the PEG must be permanent. Any suggestions on how we can deal with change of life experience?

I'm glad everything went well and I hope you're not hurting too much from your surgery.

Pamela, I was about to say try starting a "New Topic", but you already did!

Well I had my surgery on Friday. He removed a bunch of gum tissue that was sent off for a biopsy and two teeth. He said there is more that needs to be done. I have another appointment this Thursday for the results of the biopsy and discuss what to do next. My mouth hurts a little and is swollen but I guess that is to be expected after removal of teeth. I did not know that dysplasia could invade the bone but I guess it can so the teeth were removed instead of having it turn into something else. Thank you for your kind words.

Glad to see everything went well and u are home recovering hope to hear the results soon

Glad your surgery is over and wishing you the best possible news on Thurs.

Well, my doctor got a preliminary result on the biopsy. Margins clear except for one that they said was reacting. Bone not involved. Beginning of appointment was pretty much doom and gloom as the lump he removed was cancerous and than he got the call from the lab. Bone not being involved was a big plus. Said it was just the tissue. Said he is waiting for the final diagnosis to determine if the small spot that is possibly left can be treated with radiation or surgery. I stated I wanted the surgery instead of radiation. A small area of tissue and maybe a tooth may need to be removed if this one margin is not clear. What is one more. Doctor says it appears that he got most of it if not all of it. He also said to thank my dentist for catching this early. Thank you for listening.

Hey pamela, Its nice to see you here. As far as how this works, I think your supose t start your own post in the "introduce yourself" forum or under "general"forum, that way you will recieve the attention to your questions that you are looking for. I can't help you with the peg questions but alot of people here can.

Wendy

Sorry Everyone for not writing sooner. Life has been going so fast. Work, school and the family has just been taking up all of my time and I guess i did not want to admit what I had. My three month appointment coming has been a reminder. I have begun to sort of worry again. Its funny when I was told I had oral cancer I knew I would be okay. My wife got mad because she said i was not being serious enough.

I do not know if I updated this board but my final diagnosis is as follows:
GINGIVA, LEFT PALATAL, BIOPSY:
1. KERATINIZING SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA, WELL DIFFERENTIATED
2. TUMOR SIZE: 1.5 CM IN GREATEST DIMENSION
3. MARGINS OF RESECTION:
a. PERIPHERAL AND DEEP MARGINS: UNINVOLVED BY CARCINOMA
b. ALVEOLAR BONE MARGINS (PERIPHERAL AND DEEP):
i. UNINVOLVED BY CARCINOMA
ii. BONE SECTIONS SHOW FIBROSIS AND
DEGENERATIVE CHANGES
4. LYMPHOVASCULAR SPACE INVASION: NOT IDENTIFIED
5. EXTRACTED TEETH, FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY

I guess this means that my doctor pretty much got everything with the surgery and I am on three month visits for a while. The only questions that I thought about are what is keratinizing mean? I have read about keratinizing and non keratinizing. What is the difference? I know well differentiated is somewhat good because it resembles normal cells, but I could not find what keratinizing was. I don't know what stage it was but based on what i could find, I would guess an early stage. I guess I can ask my doctor in a couple of weeks but it would not matter. I just have to take better care of myself. My doctor also does not know why I got it as i do not fall under any of the risk factors. He thinks it is either hereditary or from advanced gum disease. Thank you for all of your time.