Hello - Oral Cancer Support - Survivor / Patient Forum

I am in the military and I started dipping 10yrs ago, I went to the dentist for annual exam last week and I asked about some changes in my mouth on the side of my gums both sides are some lumps and she said that was normal and I just have to brush more, today I noticed the bumps are moving to my lower front inside of lip and after I brushed today it was like a burning sensation, I have an appoint with a perdontist tomorrow for a root cannal evaluation, after I noticed that tonight I am done dipping, I guess I have done it for years because of the stress and lately there has been allot more with deploying coming home and deploying again, I know u guys can only say see what the doctor recomends, I have been getting very tired lately and slight off and on pain under my jaw not too bad I just figure it was my sinus problem. The Military dent.are very young what do u think I should do or who should I request to see? thank you for ur time!

Grassdeer,

I am in the military too. 24 years active duty USAF. I agree about our dentists they aren't very experienced in looking for oral cancer effectively. I'm not saying they are bad dentists but they just don't deal with oral cancer all that much. I would push for a referral to a specialist down town, an ENT, to be thoroughly checked out.

I was actually deployed and was fortunate enough to find a Dr that took in to account my family history and risk factors, she had the guts to get me aerovac'd to see an ENT surgeon in Japan for a biopsy. That's how my cancer was caught.

There is a saying around here; It's not cancer until the pathology confirms it. I pray that all your tests will come back negative. I understand about your stress level. I smoked for 15 years to cope and increased everytime I deployed. Quitting is/was the smart thing to do, I/we just pray it not too late.

Quitting after all this time may be very difficult. Besides getting additinal evaluations of things, I think there are two things you should consider. Ask the docs for and Rx strength nicotine subsitute, these come in nasal sprays and also a container like an inhaler. Of course the docs are going to want to give you lesser strength doses as the months progress. Another alternative is a dip made from black tea leaves that has the same nicotine levels as what you are used to. It is called Blue Whale. According to the company it has none of the carcingens that are found in conventional spit tobacco products. Obviously you need to figure out what is going on in your mouth, but getting off the chew an be really hard given the very high levels of addictive nicotine that it has in it.

Stoj is right on the money. I had a spot on my tongue that did not even hurt and my dentist said I should get it checked out. I waited until my next checkup thinking it was nothing and it started to hurt a little by then. Bottom line is mine turned out to be cancer.

Yours may or may not be cancer but you certainly have a risk factor and should explore every doctor option you have to get to the bottom of your sores and bumps.

Good luck and keep us posted. This is a huge resource in the unlucky event you do have cancer.

Jim

I had a number of white spots over about 15 years that didn't hurt -- The real tumor didn't hurt -- Hurt is not a necessary condition for cancer...

My first white spot occured when I was a contractor for the military in Germany in 1991 -- Mil Doc in Stuttgart sent me to mil dentist there, who consulted with oral surgeon at Landstuhl and took a sample for biopsy.