Hello all,

I have bren lurking & decided to post. My brother (almost 19 years old) had a biopsy on thursday. My mom said the doctor called it a "plaque lesion"...not sure if that's exactly the way he phrased it though.

It is a sore/lesion on the bottom of his tongue & floor of mouth. It started in january of this year & it apparently has come and gone. It hurts him. Seceral years ago he had an allergic reaction to the packing used (contained petroleum) after having his wisdom teeth taken out. He had HPV vaccine when he was younger.

I am so anxious b/c in my mind i think "what else could it be besides something really bad?!"

When you google things....only cancer seems to come up. It really scares me. Thanks in advance.

There are many possibilities and, infortunately, until you get the biopsy results, there is no other way to find out if it is cancer. Let's hope not.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it.

The waiting game is awful. I remeber the anxiety of waiting between each course of action when my mother had cervical cancer when i was much younger. Thankfully she is cancer free & doing great today

That's good news plus you have some experience being around cancer, if that's what the biopsy shows.

I know a lady who is a 35 year survivor, June 4 was her anniversary. She was diagnosed at 22 years old.

Until that biopsy comes back, stay away from the Interent. It will wait for you to come back. Enjoy the time.

My experience is that not knowing was the hardest part of this. That is, sadly, is where you are right now. Uptown's advice is right on target. You get through this a step at a time, not looking too far ahead, and keeping a positive attitude while hoping for the best and preparing for whatever happens. Good luck to you and your brother. Be sure to let us know what happens.

The doctor has limited time to explain things to you, so sometimes Google is helpful for understanding what the doctor is telling you. It is NOT useful for answering questions like "is this cancer" and "will this kill me", which is what you want to know. Only cancer comes up because thats what you are looking for.

There is a lot of waiting for a cancer patient. Waiting for test results, waiting in treatment rooms, waiting for years after treatment to see if it will return. Once you have it cancer never really goes away, its a storm cloud hanging just over the horizon.

Worry is a misuse of imagination. Do what you need to do, see doctors, get biopsies etc, and then put it aside. There is more to life than this. Make a conscious effort to keep a positive outlook on everything you do, and be grateful for every day you get to wake up healthy.

That is pretty much a letter to my younger self, of things I wish I appreciated last year. I hope you and your brother never go through what we've had to, but we're here for you if you do.

Thank you

Cal - your comment about thinking "What else could it be besides something bad?" is exactly what we were thinking after my son's treatment ended, and he had been told he had a spot on his lung which they were checking out. When you are in the "waiting game" it too easy to assume the worst and difficult to realize that the waiting is taking longer due to some reason other than the bad one. In my son's case, it was due to clerical issues because they had to wait on results from two different hospitals. And he's been cancer-free for several years, now. Sometimes "a spot is just a spot" If you can try to think of all the reasons for a positive outcome, it will keep you from worrying about all the negative stuff. And keep busy. Come here often and let us know how things go.

Hi, Cal.

Here's to hoping for nothing but the best results on your brother's biopsy.

Whether it is relevant to his biopsy or not, I am so glad to hear that he has been vaccinated against the worst strains of HPV. We need more of this all over the world. Education is key.

I know how extremely hard it is to wait. We've all been through it, sometimes too many times. Just try to keep yourself and your mind occupied. Go to a funny movie or dive into a good book. Spend time outdoors or do anything that makes you feel some sense of comfort...except alcohol or illicit drugs, lol!

I look forward to hearing some good news soon.

Love and strength in OCF,
Kerri