Saturday I took my son to get his wisdom tooth pulled and they found what looks to be squamous cell carcinoma behind where the tooth was impacted. I was a basket case most of the day and night. Won't be for sure until a specialist looks at it and test it but thougt i would come here and do my thing, post my stories and leave bread crumbs for those that follow behind us for any information they may need and hope to be of help to them.
I will try to post every time i get more information, right now i'm just gathering info on the types of cancers and treatments for it and the different stages, what determines the stages, and gathering in my mind things that are relevant that led up to this.. weight loss, yes, hoarseness, yes, throat infection that looked like mono or strep, yes, smoker yes, just so much to think about.

Welcome to OCF! Sure hope you do not have to be here! Only thru a biopsy will there be an answer to what is going on with your son. I hope it is nothing serious!

As far as the tobacco use goes, that needs to stop immediately! Tobacco is full of all kinds of known cancer causing chemicals. I know quitting isnt easy. But it really is a necessity! Smoking is an option and at his age hopefully he has not been doing it that long so he can easily quit. I am a former smoker who now is disfigured and went thru oral cancer 3 times all due to my habit. If your son had his wisdom teeth removed he should not be smoking right now anyway, so hopefully this will help him to quit. By smoking when having extractions there is a high risk of dry socket which can be very painful.

Try your best not to panic. At this point you dont know what you are dealing with. Hopefully you will get him into see an oral surgeon or ENT who deals with oral cancer patients so a biopsy can be taken. After the biopsy is done, it will be another week until the full results come in. Its probably going to take a couple weeks to find out what is going on.

Best wishes and keep us posted.

Hello. What a shock for you as a parent to be considering this diagnosis in a 17 year old child.
Until he has had a biopsy of the area you don't know what you actually are dealing with. Try to take some deep breaths and take it one day at a time.It can be very frightening to read up about stages and treatments on the net. You may yet be worrying unnecessarily. I would get him to an experienced ENT who deals with head and neck cancers to get this done. I would also push for the earliest appointment you can get - just to let you know either way. I'm sure your mind is racing with "what ifs" and "what abouts".
As Christine said, please , please get your son to stop smoking.
Come here often for advice, to rant and let us know what eventuates. Wishing you all the best,
Tammy

Ditto what everyone said. I sincerely hope you don't have to be here. If it does turn out to be cancer make certain you get him to a top cancer center. Take care and blessings to you

So glad you found this forum! When my son was first diagnosed with SCC under his tongue, I was such a basket case I could barely talk on the phone! A biopsy is the only way to tell for sure it it is cancer so do push for an early appointment with the ENT or Oral surgeon experienced with treating cancer patients. My son had put off seeing someone until it got to a Stage 2 but he is doing just fine, now! Once you know for sure what it is, you and your son will feel more in control and be ready to take care of whatever needs to be done. Check out the main pages of this forum - you will find lots of the latest and most accurate information that can help you get your questions ready for the doctors or for anyone here. Come back here often and let us know what's happening.

Jens-

Welcome and sorry you have to face this with your son. I wholeheartedly agree with everyone else's posts above...especially the quit smoking part. He needs to quit TODAY. He can do it...I did it after 40 years.

You need to try and relax a bit....please stay off of GOOGLE. It will scare the crapola out of you...the info is often outdated and false....spend your time on this OCF website instead. It is full of useful info from those who have walked this path before.

Most importantly, it's not cancer until a biopsy says it is. Get to a qualified ENT to do the biopsy.

Sending prayers that it is a false alarm and you and your son can consider it a wake-up call to quit smoking.

Welcome! I agree what everyone else that it's not cancer until confirmed by biopsy, and hopefully it's not. Smoking is one of the leading causes for OSCC, and OPSCC, and stopping reduces the risk, and even complications, risk of recurrences, if it is cancerous, Good luck with the biopsy results, and take it from there.