Hi i' m ren and im new to this forum.
I am 20 years old, female, nonsmoker, nondrinker.

Symptoms:
1 painless sore on the upper gums. Persistent for 3 months now. Not getting large or getting small.
2 swollen lymph nodes on my neck, they are pea like in size. Also persistent for 3 months and also painless.
Something itchy in my ear when i swallow. Also sometimes, it feel like it is plugged especially during the morning.
I have no bruxism, but in the morning when i bite my teeth, there is something mildly painful. And when i rate the pain, it would be 3.
All of these symptoms are in the left side.

I have visited 2 ENTs now, the first one diagnosed me said that I have chronic rhinitis, he did a nasal endoscopy. The second one gave me antibiotics, a tetracycline mouthwash. I had to stop it after 1 day because it irritated the area surounding the sore. He said that we will just observe the sore. Both of them said not to worry.

My mother is a GP, she also prescribed me antibiotics. I have been on doxycycline for 7 days, and cefuroxime for 5 days. She said that if the sore is growing or if there are other growths in my mouth, then it would be CA.

I have been searching on the internet for answers, and all it showed to me was OC. I have been so worried since then. I was crying for days. But now i have stopped crying and said to myself that all will be ok, that maybe the sore will heal on its own.

I have been taking 12 capsules of sodium ascorbate (alkaline vit. C) and 3 capsules of xanthone a day.

Btw, my grandfather died of buccal cancer, he died at the age of 72. And we are in a country with no medical insurances, the costs of all medical need comes out from your own pocket.

Ren, welcome to OCF!

The sore in your mouth could be any number of things. But please do not just sit back at wait for it to heal on its own. Any sore inside the mouth that has been there for more than 2 or 3 weeks needs to be checked by a professional. I suggest going to an ENT who treats oral cancer patients. A biopsy will determine exactly what the sore is and you can then take it from there as to how best to treat it. If your mother is a GP then hopefully she has some connections with top ENTs in your area. Dont let them dismiss you due to your age. Insist on a biopsy.

Im very sorry about your grandfather. As far as Ive seen, this type of cancer is not hereditary.

Wishing you all the very best!

Thank you very much

My mother said that i must not worry becuase worry can also cause other illness. She does not want me to have a biopsy, because once the lymph node is moved, or touched by needles, you must now follow it up with surgery when the biosy come out with CA.

She have some cancer patients that died after the surgery. She said we will just eat healthy foods, take herbal supplements and pray. She is afraid of surgery, thats why i too am afraid of it. I am still dependent on my mother and have no money of my own to go to a doctor for a consultation or biopsy.

The costs of medical assistance here in our country is so expensive. One patient with cancer spend 500$ dollars a day for his chemotherapy. We are not rich and we lack the money to support someone who will have CA.

I hope that this is just a benign lesion. Thank you very much for the advice 😊

You didn't fill out your profile completely but it appears you are posting from the Philippines. Is this correct?

This is not responding to antibiotics, so it is not a bacterial infection. No where in your first post do you mention that your nodes of your neck are swollen as a symptom, but in your second post you are talking about a biopsy of one of them, so I am wondering if something has changed. Do you have a swollen lymph node and is it tender or painless? Of course if a fine needle biopsy showed you had cancer you would want to treat it, right? But you shouldn't be worrying about treatments and consequences yet until you know what it is.

Advice to do nothing but take herbal supplements and pray is not going to make this go away, and you deserve a diagnosis. It may not be cancer, but clearly it is not an infection either. If you have a swollen node that shows that it is getting worse not better.

ren

Christine is right do not sit back and wait. If it is OC then the earlier you treat it the better the outcome. It very well may not be OC but I would surely have it ruled out.
Good Luck
Heidi

hi there... cancer can be painless. A sore that doesn't heal needs to be dealt with - we just lost an 18 year old last week who had oral cancer - and there's another 20 year old who's sister is on the forum here, who is also fighting this disease. I'm not saying this to scare you - I am saying it to educate you. Because of the type of cancer (usually a heavy smoker or drinkers cancer - often found in elderly men) people tend to look at young people who present with Oral cancer like symptoms and miss it or say it's something else -

This is old information. Now the young, women, pregnant women, and people like myself who are non smokers and drinkers are getting it.

So my advice... medical insurance or not, it needs to be biopsied. You've done a lot to try and treat it and nothing has helped so to me this is a red flag you need to know specifically what it is... waiting and watching can be deadly.

A few things about this disease - in young people it doesn't always move the way it normally does - (follow a predictable path) - it can be highly aggressive - and buccal cancer of the gum can move into the jaw as well as the nodes - the surgery to repair this can be very disfiguring.

I admire that your mom is a GP but waiting for another sore isn't a good way to tell if its oral cancer. Usually there is a primary (your sore) - that does eventually grow, and then it spreads into the nodes and surrounding tissue. So often there would not be a "second sore" In fact at times there may be only a small sore and it has spread into the nodes - so it really depends on a whole bunch of factors.

You need to see an ENT who will take this seriously - one who will take a small sample of the area and send it out for testing.

I'm not saying it's cancer, but you've ruled out a lot of other things and there has been no response so now you need to rule out OC, then you can work on figuring out what it is.

best of luck.

Yes, I am from the philippines.

The nodes first swell up, then next i had a sore that would not heal. I have not undergone biopsy yet, im afraid to get one. Also if it would turn out as cancer, my mother will not opt for surgery and radiation. She also is scared because some of her patients that went through surgery and rad died, some had recurrences which were more fatal.

I wish i live in the US, the medical assisstance here in our country is not that good. The more high technology the hospital the more expensive it is, and we cannot afford that.

One thing that i have also noticed was that my wisdom tooth is growing, does it have a connection with the sore?

Thank you very much for the advice. i hope that i would be diagnosed soon, hoping that it would not be cancer.

Since your mother is a physician she should be insisting on a biopsy instead of dismissing it. Delaying could mean the difference between something that can easily be treated or the sore spreading and if it would be cancer it could be fatal. Even though you are dependent on your mother, you are old enough to speak up and explain to her this is not going away and must be dealt with. With her medical background she should understand the seriousness of your situation. At the very least a biopsy would give an answer as to whats going on so a solution can be found.

Good luck!

Thank for the advice.

Last month, i always complain this to my mother, thats why they brought me to ENTs. The ENTs said that there is nothing to worry about, thats why my mother did not go further. Now, i do not complain anything to my mother, also there are some things that im experiencing that i cannot explain into words. She just said that dont worry becuase it will just go away.

LORD ABOVE...

Fear or not you need a biopsy. Your mother should definitely be pushing for this.

Also - this cancer can only be treated with surgery and usually a radiation/chemotherapy combination (NO CHEMO IS KNOWN TO CURE THIS CANCER)

So if you are diagnosed with this (highly unlikely but not unheard of) those are the only two treatments available. To not do them is to sentence you to a certain death. SO frankly your mom doesn't have much of a choice -

push her to have a biopsy done by an ENT who is familiar with oral cancer - she is a dr. she must know who is good.

also being a dr. she is intelligent enough to know that fear should not hold you back from getting a firm diagnosis and following proper treatment protocol.

hugs.

Thank you very much for the advice.

I wish it is not cancer. I want it to be biopsied but i am afraid. I afraid of the expenses, the physical and emotional pain, and also afraid for my family. I dont want my younger brother and sister to stop studying especially now that they are studying in a private school.

Also, i have shown this lesion to the dentist and she said that it was not a canker sore. I have searched that there is what they call brush biopsy, is that really accurate?

Its best to get a regular incisional biopsy. Often a brush biopsy will be inconclusive and the patient will still require the regular type anyway. Why waste time and more money by having to go thru it twice.

There is no price on a persons life. Try your best not to worry about things out of your control. Im sure your siblings would want you to take care of this situation. Its nice you are concerned about them but you must take care of your own health.

Bite the bullet and get a biopsy. Then get whatever it is taken care of right away. If it would turn out to be oral cancer, this can be a fast moving disease. By delaying it only gives it time to grow. Please help yourself by speaking up and advocating to get the biopsy.

Hi Ren,

Your situation is complicated for certain and the opinions are very different if you are looking out from that culture or looking in.

Your mother is a doctor and she agreed something was not normal and listened to your concern and had you visit one, maybe more, ENT specialists who determined it was something other than cancer.

The only way to be sure is by taking a biopsy that is a standard and proven save procedure. This procedure is not expensive even in the Philippines so please stress that at least to get this test. Your mother can be convinced this is a harmless procedure and it will make you much less stress and worried.

If nothing is possible anymore with your family, then just make sure your family really sees the condition and if it changes over time then be very firm to get them to agree is is not going away and getting worse or changing. Hopefully that helps get you that biopsy.

You can not worry about "what if" as this is just a big wall you put in front of you before knowing. I know there are major issues with medical care in the Philippines and most do not understand how such a large country can have such a broken down system.

Get the test and it will likely be something else. If it is cancer, you and your family can decide what to do then. Just don't think that now. I know you love your family and want them to stay in school but you do have to know they love you dearly and would delay school to get you treatment if that is what it comes to. Keep trying, Don

Thank you very much for the advice. I teared up a little hehe

Is the biopsy painful? Will the doctors put you to sleep? My father was biopsied two years ago for prostate cancer, and he was put into sleep. Fortunately, the results was just BPH.

In my situation, the lymph nodes came out first. Will they get the biopsy sample on the lymph node or on the sore?

No.l. They will freeze your mouth snip a bit of tissue and send you on you way. Go have it done, it will ease your mind.

Biopsy on a lymph node is often done via a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA). It is simple as the doctor takes a needle and pokes into the neck node and extracts a bit of the material. It is fast and hardly hurts and you are awake and done in a few minutes.

I did have a biopsy where I was put under sleep but that was because they went through my mouth to extract sample far inside my throat.

In your case it seems the biopsy should be pretty straightforward.

Good luck

Also, with an FNAB, I had all mine, about 10, under ultrasound guidance done by a pathologist, not an ENT, who looks at the sample right then and there. Sometimes they may tell you the results, but is always sent out for in-house for further pathology and confirmation. All mine were 100% correct, either good or bad. Mainly bad but at least there was no monkeying around fishing or need for a surgical biopsy.

Good luck