Here's the long and short of my story.

Last July-August, I noticed I had a lingering dull sore throat/ear ache. I figured my ear problems were just wax build-up or some sort of an infection. After they persisted, I went to my regular doctor. He poked around, saw nothing abnormal and then ordered me to have my thyroid checked. When that came back normal, he simply threw up his hands and said "I have no idea what's wrong with you!"

I'm not sure if the sore on my tongue was there at that point or not. But soon thereafter I noticed a nasty dime sized sore on the underside of my tongue on the left side. It hurt, and I figured a jagged tooth was rubbing the area raw. So I went to a dentist to get his opinion.

Fortunately for me, he took one look at the sore and said "get that thing checked out!" That was the first time I heard the C-word and of course I freaked. The oral surgeon specialist didn't biopsy it at first -- something we regret not pushing for now -- but put me on antibiotics because I didn't have any of the classic risk factors (smoking, drinking, chewing, etc.) When that didn't work, then he did the biopsy 10 days later, and of course a week after that the results came back as SCC. Fortunately, no lymph node involvement (though I'm currently going through tests and scans to see if this thing has come back in my nodes)...

I'm very thankful overall with the vigilence my doctors and dentists have had with me. Except for not giving my a biopsy right off the bat, they have been aggressive and very proactive in my case. Even now, as soon as something suspicious shows up, there are all over it.

The one thing I don't understand through all of this -- why do they have to make us wait so long to get biopsy results back? My most recent biopsy came back the next day thanks to a very bullheaded doctor (praise him), but my initial one took more than a week and most folks on these boards talk of the agony of waiting 7-10 days. Maybe they are overloaded with cases, but possible cancer diagnosis should move to the front of the line in my opinion. If nothing else, so we don't end up in the hospital with heart trouble as well... Just my .02 worth...

Eric