My stage IV cancer was found after the dentist removed two teeth on the lower left side of my mouth in Dec. of 2002. The two teeth that were the farthest back in my mouth. Nothing was noticed during the exam nor during the extraction. I do remember it being horribly painful after the extractions but after a few days that went away. The area where the teeth were removed never really healed, it stayed very red and "angry" looking. I was so very busy at this time of my life, we had just opened our second gym and was managing two businesses and taking care of the four kids we still have living at home........throw in a husband and a house and not much time left to take care of me. I would look at it off and on but just didn't think about it to much. The middle of March 2003 I called the dentist for something not related to me and ended up telling the office girl about my problem. She had me come in that next day. I will never forget the look on the dentists face when he looked in my mouth. He asked me if I had been putting aspirin on it, that the area looked burned. He took an X-ray and sent me to an oral surgeon. The oral surgeon, that I saw that same day, told me I had an infection and put me on antibiotics. I asked him if he thought this was cancer and he said no. The two teeth next to where I had the extractions in Dec. had become sore and loose so he scheduled me to come in and have them taken out four days later. During those extractions he did a biopsy. The extraction for those two teeth was so damn painful, the novacaine just didn't numb it enough. I remember being shaky and very distraught after that appointment. The biopsy was on a Tuesday and that Friday we left for Myrtle Beach with the kids. When we got to the motel room that night I looked at the area and saw that, after 3 days, the white stuff had grown back. That is when I started to fear that I had cancer. I went straight to bed after that, and the movie "Step-mother" was on which of course upset me even more. We returned home on Monday night and that next morning, when I was coming down the stairs, my daughter hollered, "mom, your dentist called yesterday." I knew right then that I had cancer, as I had an appointment for Thursday for the biopsy results and I knew they would only call early if there was a problem.
I went in that afternoon and my world as I knew it was over. Thanks be to God that he allows us to create new worlds!
Once we get past grieving our pre-cancer selfs, life can be good once again!!