Ellen,
I, too, wish my John's OC would have been caught earlier. He complained of a sore throat for months, and 3 docs told him 3x it was his allergies. If only it had, I dream that we would not be in the situation we are in now with mets to his lungs.

Perhaps I may join the 'awareness fray' and spread the word about OC to the many many people unaware of this evil disease and it's consequences. It truly needs more voices.

God bless you and your husband Bonnie! Will say a prayer next treatment works an remission happens! Hugs!

When I first saw my regular GP for the tongue pain, I was also having serious stringy saliva. He should have known right away that was a red flag that something else was going on and sent me off to an ENT specialist ASAP, not fooling around for another two weeks when I had to return to him as the pain got worse. C'est la vie.

Like most folks, Ellen, I think we tend to think something like a sore throat IS minor and will either resolve itself or trust an MD to prescribe something if it's more serious but not really serious, like strep throat. I know I scanned my Merk Manual for every conceivable thing this "thing" on my tongue might be and delighted myself every time I would come up with my own diagnosis. (Oh, okay, that's what it is...)But all it took was the ENT doc, whom I saw a good 4 weeks into the pain, who said in no uncertain terms "it's a tumor," and I put down the books and took it seriously. Because it was serious.

Here's hoping for a good outcome for your loved one.