Hello everyone, I am 47 year old female and I have smoked since I was 20.I also have hvp. I had a biopsy yesterday,I was floored because I didn't know I had a problem.I had actually gone in to have a paploma removed and the ent found this place on my cheek behind my molar.I have been having pain in that area off and on,so bad I couldn't eat for a couple days last week.I never looked to see what was going on though.So,this morning I got a flashlight to look at it and I was even more blown away that I hadn't seen it and how disgusting it looks....it is white and red around it with white on my gum area where my wisdom tooth was removed.I also saw some dark spots...how could I have missed this? I'm not sure what the results of the biopsy will be,I'm scared as I'm sure everyone is when waiting for results.My question at the moment is how gross does a cancerous biopsy look because this looks pretty bad...maybe even non cancerous biopsies look bad,I don't know....I'm just waiting to find out what it is...thank you all. ..

Welcome to OCF, Mindy! Waiting for results is the worst! Every patient tries their best not to worry but its nearly impossible to think about "what if...".

Only thru a biopsy will your tumor be diagnosed either as cancerous or non-cancerous. Not even experienced physicians are able to visually make a cancerous determination. They can give you a well-educated guess but thats all it can be is... a guess.

Its not necessary to post the same thing in more than one place. Duplicate posts will be deleted. We have thousands of members (and many,many more who are unregistered) who will read your post. Not everyone who is a registered member and reads your post will comment, but eventually some members will weigh in. If you have a couple minutes, check out the Posting Etiquette thread under the New Here, Read This First section. It has tips to help new members learn their way around our forum. Many times you can find the answers to common questions by reading thru posts. We have a search function (top right corner) that will help to narrow it down.

Try to do things to keep your mind busy like read books, watch movies that keep your attention or work on hobbies. Do anything you can to limit your "going there". if you find you must think about "what if", try to limit your time to say 5 or 10 minutes then get up and change the channel and do something more productive. Ive had lots of practice to get this skill down, it really does work.

Hopefully its nothing serious. If it would be, we are here for you. Let this be your wake up call and get rid of the cigs for good. I know you are probably overly stressed right now and quitting is very difficult, but you dont want to make what ever it is worse. By eliminating the tobacco, it can give your mouth a chance to heel on its own.

Good luck!!!

Thank you Christine,I do apologize for double posting,wasn't sure I posted in the correct place.
The ent did say it was either precancerous or cancer.As I have taken a look,and I realized the reason I didn't see it is because it is in my cheek hiding behind my left molar.i can see it is on my gum also where my wisdom tooth was removed 25 years ago.if it is precancerous will they remove the rest of it? I didn't ask questions because I wasn't expecting this and it all happened so fast.Im also new to the area and it was the first time I had seen this ent.I don't know. ...I'm still a bit shocked....in limbo,not knowing what I should do. He gave me no instructions on rinsing my mouth with anything, so I've been using an antiseptic wash. I've jag problems with my lips the last 2 months, I don't know if it is related or not. I used about $150.00 worth of abreva,never had a cold sore before this, don't even know if that's what it is. I'll end this because I'm rambling,thank you.

As I said before, the doc can only give you a guess as to what it is. The biopsy tissue gets sent to a lab where it is tested and evaluated. A report will be sent to the ENT who basically reads what the lab tech writes. Its normally about a week, sometimes 2 for the results to come back. Waiting for the results is a terribly stressful time so avoid Dr Google and stay busy.

When I was originally diagnosed, I had a "canker sore" on the inside of my cheek and also one exactly where you do, behind my top L molar. Its very rare to have 2 completely seperate tumors so please dont run to the mirror and frantically start looking for more. Neither one caused me any pain which is common with this type of cancer.

Your ENT may advise you to go for a quick surgery to remove what is syill visible. Just remember what you can see could be only a tiny piece of what actually is under the surface. Clear margins around the tumor must be obtained or you will only have the cancer return. Im getting a little ahead of myself with this as at this point you do NOT have cancer. Right now you havent been diagnosed so you technically arent a cancer patient yet. Lets hope it stays that way!

But continuing on the "what if..." train of thought, I would advise you to go to a comprehensive cancer center (CCC) if possible. These are the countries top facilities where they use a team based approach so all specialists are on the same page. Without that you will have the surgeon recommending surgery and the radiation doc saying rads is the way to go, etc. The only scientifically proven ways to eliminate this type of cancer are either surgery or radiation with or without chemo. Alone, chemo will not kill it. It may shrink the tumor but it wont eliminate it.

Hopefully its nothing serious and you wont need us. We are here to help you if the biopsy does come back as cancer. Best wishes!!!


PS... Around here we have a saying... "Its NOT cancer until the biopsy says it is". Repeat this over and over to yourself until you believe it.

Mindy,

Christine has given you excellent advice. The only way to determine if it is cancer is via the biopsy. Having a doctor say the word cancer is very frightening and right now you are thinking the worst.

When is your follow-up appointment? Have someone go with you to take notes. Your doctor should have the results of the biopsy by then (ask for a copy of the report). They usually will not give you the results over the phone. IF it is cancer, he will probably have you go for additional testing - a CT or PET scan and probably some blood tests. IF it is cancer, they cannot determine the treatment plan until after they have the results of the CT or PET scan.

There is a lot of great and accurate information on the main pages of the OCF website.

Wishing you the best!

Hi Mindy. I was diagnosed with SCC of the tongue on April 1 this year. I also smoked for years. Amazingly enough, I haven't been beating myself up over it. I hope you aren't either! I hope your biopsy comes back negative for cancer. I have really learned from the beginning to take it one step at a time. As you can see from my signature below, I had the surgery to remove a portion of the right side of my tongue. It has not been anywhere close to as bad as I thought it might be. I got used to things slowly. I lucked out big time and didn't require the radiation or chemo at this time. It's all doable. Hoping the best for you!
Denise

Hold tight until you get the biopsy results, hugs and hoping it's nothing... But if it is cancer you're in the right place...