I first was diagnosed with pre cancer in 2005, and cancer in 2007 or 2008. I had a great ENT whom I liked and trusted. He had to go take care of his National Guard duties, which made me respect him even more. When he left I was referred to the head of the ENT clinic at Maricopa County Hospital. I never felt comfortable with this doctor but thought, this will only be temporary and he is the head of the department. The last two biopsy's have left me with jaw bone migrating through my gums. We were able to get the bone fragment the first time and the biopsy on that was Ostio Mylitis. I asked him why he was taking tissue from my mandible when my tumor is in the base of my tongue, and he looked at me with his blank look and said he did biopsy my tongue. This left my mind numb and I was unable to ask any further questions. My dentist last Thursday informed me that I still, 3 months later, have a hole in my gums. I am trying to get back under the care of my old trusted ENT but it is taking some time. I have an appointment to see my current untrusted ENT on Monday. I have not been able to find out if there is any malpractice involved. I am not looking to sue, but want the best care I can get. Some background information on me:
43 yo male, squamous cell stage 1 base of tongue. I have had excisions twice in the last 2-3 years. I have been HIV positive since 1991 and AIDS for about 10 years. The HIV health is pretty much managed. I also have early stage emphysema, major depression, anxiety disorder, managed and doing well.
I am on the fence as to go to my appointment on Monday or just cancel and wait to get back under the care of my previous ENT. I know the risk of not following through on care but have absolutely no trust in this doctor.
Please let me hear your thoughts on my situation so that I might better be able to make my decisions. Thank you, Anthony

I don't think that is malpractice. You could end up with many more surgeries on different parts of your mouth and tonue. There are a few of us on here that have never ending problems and I do feel for you. I hate to hear you have HIV too. Have them test you for HPV as this could be the cause of OC. If it is, the reoccurence rate would be lower for you.THis can be from Oral Sex, smoking. or other things. I wish Mine was HPV but mine is just called a unique type. No name because they have no idea what caused the OC.

Nothing you described sounds anything like malpractice. But if you think it is or feel strongly about it, all you need to do is call your local bar association and ask for a list of malpractice attorney for a free evaluation appointment.
Here's the important legal secret: if the attorney agrees to take your case and he will pay upfront all the costs, to be recovered when you settle or win, you have a real case. If the attorney wants you to pay costs or hourly fees, you do not have a viable case. It's like car accident cases or work injuries. Yes, the attorney takes the lion share of the settlement but you don't end up wasting money. Under no circumstances should you agree to pay anything because you will just be throwing your money away. Again, nothing in your post sounds like legally actionable malpractice at all.

How about going to another doctor that you feel more comfortable with? There has to be others in your area that are competent and will take care of you until you are able to get back with your original doctor. You might even find one you like better. In my uneducated opinion, this doesnt sound like anything was done wrong. There are so much more important things to be spending your energy on than thinking about malpractice. The most important thing is to be healthy. It sounds like you didnt click with this doctor for one reason or another. Not all doctors will be a good fit. Find one that can fit you in and you are comfortable with.

I had a hole in my gums from a major surgery that took a year to heal. This is not uncommon with cancer patients. Everyone is different and will react in their own way to medications and procedures. We all heal in our own unique timeline. Eating a diet that is high in protein will help you to heal quicker.

if you don't trust the doc, i wouldn't go. I switched a few times because I wasn't getting the answers i wanted, and kept demanding referrals to more knowledgable doctors until they gave me them. I would go to my appointments, and not let them do work on me and just tell them I want a referral to someone more knowledgable on the type of issue, and finally got it. Not saying that is what you should do, but I know if I didn't trust a doctor, and only went in for a biopsy of the tongue and ended up with gum issues, i would never go back, or would demand they refer me to someone else!!

Good luck with this, and hopefully you can get back to ur old trusted doc asap!!

EzJim, Thank you for all of your input. I do in fact have HPV, but we have been unable to determine if this is the cause of the cancer. Do you think it would make a difference if it is?

Thank you Charm2017, I defiantly do not want to add a law suit to my current issues. I just didn't know if this was a common thing or not. It looks like it is not a rare thing, so I'll just get along with focusing on treatments.

Thank you ChristineB, I know you will understand me when I say I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one with these complications. I just get a little bent out of shape with having a compromised immune system to begin with. And I am taking the steps to look for a new doc.

Thank you bethers0808, I did have to go back to him as my old doc has not contacted me yet, and I'm looking for a new one, too slow in responding does not sit well with me.

I know the feeling. Hopefully you will find a good new one soon, or maybe this one will pull his head out of his butt and do what you want/need them to do for you to make this as easy as possible for you.

One of my doctors that did my reconstructive surgery had really bad bedside manor, he would walk in, say what he had to say, and walk out without seeing if i had any questions or concerns. I talked to my main oral surgeon, the one who is my primary cancer doc, and he talked to the other doc for me, and after that, it went a lot better. I talked to his nurses cuz they came to talk to me, and they say he just hates to see people so young, and gets attached emotionally sometimes, so they say that is his way of trying not to incase things go wrong. But they also said once he sees that things turn around for them, he has much better bedside manner and i see that now that i am not battling right now and am "in the clear", he seems a lot more easy going, and not so i am doctor, book smart, but not worldly or people friendly, lol.

Either way i hope your situation gets a little better. I would hate to go through this without a doc I trust and respect and feel good in knowing that they are going to help me beat this!

If it is caused by HPV, there are tests they can do to see, it usually is less likely to come back as long as they got it all in the first place, and you don't keep doing things that will keep introducing HPV.

I wish you luck with this, keep fighting and stay strong!