My dentist discovered a smooth, red patch inside my lower lip a few weeks ago at my checkup. He did the brush biopsy and told me it came back suspicious. I am scheduled to see an oral surgeon on Tuesday for a bigger biopsy. The size is 5mm x 9mm and I don't know how long it has been there. I saw the dentist for a checkup in April and he didn't mention it then. I am worried it might be cancer and that it could have been there for 6 months or more. I'm also worried that in the past few days I've noticed a a tail looking piece growing outside the regular shaped border.

I'm even more scared since I read on your website about HPV. I have HPV, but I don't know which strain. I've had irregular pap smears in the past and even surgery to remove dysplasia. I've put it a call to my OB to see which strain I have. Oh, and to make matters worse, I'm 4.5 months pregnant with my third child. I'm 33 years old and have never smoked or drank.

I'm wondering if anyone knows if this is cancer, how quickly does it grow/spread or if it's possible it might be anything else. I'm afraid with the Thanksgiving holiday, it might be two weeks before I hear the results of my biopsy.

Thanks for any thoughts on this,
Kristi

Kristi,

Sorry I can't be of much help, but Heather didn't have any patches....red, white or otherwise...so I don't know too much about that. Hopefully Brian will post a reply for you. In the meantime, if you go to the Foundation Homepage and do a search, you can find a lot of good information which should help answer some of your questions.

As for the biopsy results taking longer because of the holiday, it probably will be a little longer, but it still shouldn't take 2 weeks. Ask the surgeon how long he thinks it will take and then call....repeatedly if need be.....if you don't hear from them in that time frame.

Now, try to relax a little and enjoy the holiday! Good luck!

Rainbows & hugs,
Rosie

Rosie,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your thoughts and encouragement. I had my biopsy today and will know in 5-10 days. I'm trying to stay positive. Doctor said other things besides cancer can cause an atypical result on the scratch biopsy. I'm praying that's the case.