Hello All,

We had very good news today from my husband's surgeon and we feel relieved. At this point the tissue changes were caught early- moderate dysplasia, along the gum line where chewing tobacco was in contact. I say "was" because my husband quit "cold turkey" after he was given the information about the potential cancer in his mouth. (He had quit drinking any alcohol a year ago incidentally.) This quick removal of the tobacco toxins has allowed for very favorable healing and much less visable tissue involvement already. Due to the positive changes that just getting off the tobacco has brought, the idea is to now be very vigilant in the next couple of weeks to see how far this trend takes him. If things settle down we will continue in this "watch and see" situation. He will continue the plan to do more implants which brought him to the surgeon in the first place. Ironically, the tissue that is of danger is NOT in the area of the implants, but due to the suspicious looking tissue, the doctor took a biopsy and sent the tissue in to the pathologist for examination.

We were certainly in a tailspin just after the initial conversations with the surgeon, so his much more encouraging news was welcomed. He was especially pleased that my husband has so quickly able to drop the chewing habit. This has made a huge difference in the initial outlook.

Sometimes the wake-up call works huh?

patty from Kapowsinpals