Hello all!
I am 22 years old and in the Marine Corps. Yesterday I went to dental to have them look at a lump in my mouth. The dentist gave it a quick exam and told me to come in this morning for another examination. She told me that the lump shouldn't be there and she looked very concerned. Today they took x-rays and looked at it a little. The dentist is sending me to the oral surgeon tomoorow for another exam. I asked him what it was and he told me it was a good chance it was cancer. I'm a little worried here. Let me rephraze that. I'm scared to death. I'm only 22 years old and have been dipping about a can a day for the last 2 years and before that I smoked for 4 years. The lump is about an inch in diameter located on the right side of my lower jaw on the bone next to the cheek. It is very hard and somewhat tender when you press on it. I don't know how long it's been there I just noticed it by accident yesterday. My question is how far along am I? What are the possibilities if this is cancer? Am I going to die? If so how long do I have to live? Are they going to have to remove part of my jaw? I'm also concerned about the type of treatment I will recieve from Military doctors? Does anyone have some advice for me because my wife and I are very scared.