just curious what this means in my case ...

i am a five-year SCC survivor (of the tongue/neck), formerly known here as AzTarHeel (couldn't find my password so I re-registered this week) ... went two rounds with the disease in 2003 and 2004 - surgery, radiation, chemo, the works (the elephant gun, as my doctor at the time said) ... Since my last treatment in September 2004, I've gotten the all clear time and again. PETs are clean. Liver function tests are clean. Chest X-Rays are clean. Manual exams reveal nothing.

So, I go back to the ENT this week and he's ready to "graduate" me to the land of the officially cured. But there was a place of "granulated tissue" in the corner of my mouth that I asked him to check out, where my back tooth on my left side meets my gums. That tooth has given me problems for awhile now and the dentist has wrestled with putting fillings there a few times. It's probably due to come out.

So, just to be safe, my ENT takes a biopsy of that tissue area. It comes back "atypical." Not cancerous. But not clean enough that pathology folks can completely rule cancer out. Just curious if this is an ominous sign or if its just my doctor being overly protective considering my history (which I have no problem with)... Wondering if anyone has had anything similiar. Thanks for listening!

I lived on these boards for about nine months in 2003 and 2004 (I was AzTarHeel then, but I couldn't find my old password and so I re-registered). I remember finding a lot of peace, hope, encouragement and love here - much more than I ever deserved...

Eric

Eric