Hi. I am a 46 year old woman who has never smoked, but has drank in the past and has had a lot of dental problems over the years. Where do I begin....... For the last ten years (approx.), I had a painful whitish reddish patch on the right side of my tongue. During the first few years, I never thought much about the possibility of it being cancer because it didn't always hurt. As a matter of a fact, it often seemed like it would hurt more at certain times of the month.
Starting about 2006, it got to be really painful at times... Really bothersome. My doctor suggested I see an ENT in Buffalo, NY. (I lived in NY then, am now in VA). Anyway this doctor saw me several times over a period of about 3 yrs. We discussed the possibility of it being biopsied. This doctor didn't want to biopsy it however because he was afraid that it would aggravate it. Although he didn't use the word cancer, I think he meant that it could become cancerous. I was kinda glad he didn't want to biopsy it because I was afraid it would be really painful. This doctor seemed to think it could have been caused and / or made worse by my tongue rubbing against crowns on my teeth. My current ENT also thinks this is likely.
In 2009 I moved here to VA. I have been seeing my current ENT off and on for 4 years. He always wanted to biopsy it from the beginning. I was really chicken when it came to having this done. I would go home, and it would start to feel a lot better, sometimes not hurting again for months. This went on for years. In 9-2013, I went to my dentist for a routine visit. I had talked to them about it a little bit in the past, but hadn't mentioned it that day. She brought it up to me, and said it should be biopsied, actually mentioning the word cancer as a possibility. I saw the ENT again in Oct. (he gets really booked up!). He said he could biopsy it, but to be sure -basically to be thorough he wanted to remove the whole thing (a one inch by one half inch section). He also mentioned the possibility of "low grade cancer". Then he mentioned this "poor lady" who had waited too long (another patient of his). I was totally freaked out, and scheduled thug surgery.
They did the surgery on 12-5. I had to go to the hospital because they used general anesthesia. It was scary, but I got through it. I absolutely went through hell (so it seemed) awaiting the results of the biopsy, which I didn't get until Dec. 10th. It was NOT cancer!! I was elated, feeling so thankful. I had a lot of swelling and difficulty swallowing, but was okay..... so I thought.
I was feeling better, but on 12-26 I started having some pain next to where they had done the surgery. I felt my tongue, and there were two things that scared me 1. A hard place / spot and 2. A thing that felt like a squishy lump or piece of skin that was sticking up. I called the ENT's office, but of course there was hardly anyone there because of the holidays. The soonest I could get an appt. was for 1-7-14. In the mean time, a lump started to appear where I first felt the hard place. The ENT is primarily concerned about this lump, and mentioned the possibility of cancer again!! He said the other thing, which is soft and fleshy is probably caused by one of the stitches not having held together right. I have to have surgery again, and it is scheduled for 1-23. It's kind of like a nightmare. I thought I was okay.... For now, at least. Of course they are going to do another biopsy, and I am worried about this one. The "lump" (don't know what else to call it) is hard and mostly whitish, and is approx. 3/8" wide. I keep worrying that it's getting bigger, and look at it in the mirror 20 times or more a day. In the mean time, the fleshy soft thing directly behind it had shrunken somewhat. The ENT didn't measure the lump in question, or take any pictures of it. I have been taking pictures, and can post one or two...... but I don't want to gross anybody out.
That's my story. I am really WORRIED, and just wanted to share it, and to compare notes. Thanks for listening. Hopefully the news I get in a couple of weeks won't be bad, but I think I am more in danger this time. What they removed in Dec. was not hard.