Lee, Im going to talk to you like you were one of my own kids and Im sure you wont like what I have to say. This is life or death!!!! Stop playing around and tell your parents right away!!!!! I know you think that its something you can take care of but its not. Yes it can be oral cancer at your age. Throw away the cigs, forget the pot and booze. While you are at it get some decent friends who are smarter than the partiers you hang out with now. Your parents are not the enemy, they love you more than anybody else in the whole world. So now that you are probably mad and dont want to hear what I say, keep reading, I will tell you what has to be done.

Ive had oral cancer 3 times so I know what Im talking about. It could be anything in your mouth. You will need to go to the dentist. You may need referrals to go see other doctors. Your parents need to know if their child has cancer so you need to tell them so they can help you. It is not anything you can do yourself. Now is not the time to worry about the punishment, people die for this. Your parents can navigate the insurance processes, everybody has differnt insurances and has different rules about referrals.

If you have something in your mouth that has been there for 2 weeks then it needs to be checked. An oral surgeon or ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor can check it out and if necessary take a tiny sample called a biopsy. That gets sent to a lab to process where they will tell if its cancer or not. About a week later you will get the results. You will want to go to an oral surgeon or ENT who is familiar with treating alot of oral cancer patients. This is very important!

If you choose to ignore what you have been told then it is you who will pay the price. Ive taken my time to write this to you hoping that you are smart enough to take care of yourself and do the right thing. So have many other members written to you. As a teenager you will make alot of mistakes, thats called growing up. Most teenagers feel invinicible but sadly they are just like everyone else and can get sick and die of the same diseases. I hope you are ok and that this was your wake up call. Life has 2 paths and it sounds like you have been led down the wrong one. Its not too late to get back on the right path. Noy everybody gets a wake up call and a chance to change their future. I hope you take this as a learning experience. Hope to hear from you again. We are here to help you and your parents so please keep asking questions.

Amen Christine. Lets hope he acts adult and listens. He's at the age where as you get older that your parents seem smarter than you remember and the kids seem dumber. Listen to what you are being told Lee. This is jst like a car and can kill those that think it can't.

Lee --

In answer to your question about whether this can strike teenagers ... yes, it can and does. One of our most memorable posters was Hayley, an 18-year-old from England who was diagnosed in 2007 (do a search for her name in the Search box at the upper right of each forum page). Both she and her mother were active participants on the boards during her diagnosis and treatment; when her mom last updated in April 2009, Hayley was doing just fine.

where is the white patch?

As for smoking and marijuana and what not, they say that smoking doesn't cause this unless you have smoked for years and years and years and years. I have a different oppinion about that statement as I was 25 when i was diagnosed, and i smoked on and off for 7 years, maybe a total of 4 years. And I know of others, like a 22 year old who was diagnosed when she was 20 and she smoked for just a few years too.

As for your teeth growing apart. When I had my braces taken off, they gave me some clear retainers that i was supposed to wear. I wore them for like a year like i was supposed to, and then i stupidly gave up on them. And sure enough, the space in my teeth came back, and my teeth went pretty much right back to how they were before the braces went on.

I will say this. I know you are young, and are weary of telling your parents. But I honestly think you should. I saw a dentist when my first spot showed up, and they told me it wasn't cancer, cuz it didn't look like cancer, and i was too young for it. But i insisted if they didn't know what to do further, that they refer me to someone that would. They then referred me to an oral surgeon, that like my dentist said it couldn't be cancer cuz it didn't look like it and i was too young. 3 months later of me pushing and pushing and pushing for a biopsy, and they finally exhausted all the other options of what it could be, they finally biopsied and it came back as stage 3.

I urge you to tell you parents about this, and I guarantee that whatever trouble you get into will be worth it in the long run, even if this isn't cancer, because it may help you get things straightened out in your life, and help you see what life is really about.

I am not trying to say what you are doing is wrong, when i was younger i smoked cigs, marijuana and drank, but my mom was the supplier of things, so i didn't have to worry about getting in trouble. But now, I wish I had someone to help me stop those things, cuz i may not be where I am today, with half a tongue, a big scar on my neck and left forearm.

This is nothing to take half heartedly, and it can kill you if you don't take it seriously enough. Please, don't just wait it out. They say if you see something and it doesn't clear up in 2 weeks, to go see a oral surgeon or a ENT. They will know more about oral cancer then any dentist will.

Please don't take this so lightly. Its a very serious thing, and more and more younger people are getting this, so please, if it lasts longer then 2 weeks, make sure you get checked out by a oral surgeon or ent!!

They told me if i had gone 6 more months with out treatment, i would have been dead. That would have been 10 months after I initially found it. It can be aggressive, and other times it can take it's sweet time.