Hi Eileen, I don't know the names of the parts of the throat or where they are, but from looking at pictures online I think mine is on the soft palate, off to the right side of the uvula (that thing that hangs down?). It looks like it's behind a fold too and that's why the dentist said they missed it before, because you can't see it when I stick my tongue out. In order to get anyone to see it, I have to hold a mirror and move my tongue over to the side. Did they remove a lot of your tumor in the biopsy? Also, how does it not bleed afterward? Did you have to wait to eat long after they did the biopsy? Is it normal for biopsy reports to take two weeks to get back? that's how long they told me it would take to get mine back. Which if that's the case, these next two weeks are going to be hell. to say I'm terrified is an understatement. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. Did you have other symptoms too or did someone see your tumor when it was found? I had a bad cold that wouldn't go away this past july and it was then that I saw the ulcer, how long it may have been there before that, I've no idea. It's never been sore, I've not lost any weight, felt fine up until about three weeks ago when I spit up some blood and then threw up quite abit a few days later, which landed me in the hospital. For some reason, they never checked my throat out for the bleeding, only my esaphagus and stomach. Chest xrays came back normal, thank God, as did the ones of the stomach. The scope showed esaphagitis, gastritis and a hital hernia. Since then I've given up all bad vises.....smoking, drinking, even caffeine and spicy foods. Now I'm so afraid and angry (at who I don't know?) that I'm wondering why I'm depriving myself, as crazy as that sounds! I almost wish I'd never have seen the darned thing, but reading you guys posts in this site make it seem like it must be possible (if it is cancer) to move on and find happiness in your lives again. I've been obsessing over this the past week since the dentist did say he finally could see it.....I hope I get over that as it's not only making myself miserable, but also my entire family! Anyway, sorry for rambling, but when I get nervous I tend to go on and on and on! take care....shelley

Shelly,

The biopsy sample is sometimes taken with a little snip, or a little punch tool to remove a small round sample. Your Dr. may have other ways. Depending on how it is done a stitch may be placed to close up the wound. The process shouldn't cause much if any pain.
To be sure, everybody here is hoping that you do not have cancer and in fact there are lots of things that aren't cancer. Please tell your family that if you find out it is not "C" then you can breathe a BIG sigh of relief and be happy that it got you to quit tobbacco use. The reality is that more than a few people here were mis-diagnosed or put off by Medical Pro's that didn't take things seriously. Oral cancers are relatively easy to cure if found early. I hope that you can find a way to keep your anxiety at bay. Ask your doctor if there is any way they can speed up the report after the biopsy. I got my results back in 36 hours. Tell him/her how much stress you feel. As to other symptoms, there are frequently no symptoms! The first symptom I had was an enlarged painless lymph node.

Hi Shelley,
Yes there is life after DX and Tx! About the biopsy, mine did bleed a little afterwards but no big deal. I was able to eat later that day. Your results may differ due to many variables. Like Mark, it took my HMO 3 days to process and deliver the biopsy report.

Speaking for all of us, I can tell you that we know your terror and exactly how you are feeling. The early pre definitive diagnosis phase is very frightening. When they told me, I passed out in the ENT's office. You can really drive yourself crazy worrying about it. I asked for and got anti-anxiety medications which helped me a lot in the beginning -tell your doctor about how you are feeling.

It is good that you have stopped your vices (I won't give up salsa though). Let this be a wake up call to the real dangers of tobacco and alcohol.

I was a practicing alcoholic until 8 years ago and stopped smoking in 1976 (pot in 1985). I quit coffee when I started treatment earlier this year and now only drink an occasional cup. Life is great without these things and I can only imagine how much worse things might have been if I hadn't quit when I did. AA gave me a strong spiritual foundation and well as other practical tools to deal with it also.

The experience turned out to not be as bad as I thought and in fact, I'm doing pretty well now. I don't think I would want to go through it again but I would have been dead already without the treatment.

Like Mark said also there are many reasons other than cancer for problems in the head and neck. It is a very complex area of the body. Keep a positive attitude - it will keep your immune system healthy and continuing the fight.

We are here for you...

Mark and Gary, thank you for helping me feel abit less anxious. I can't say it enough how much all of you guys amaze me. It makes me feel bad for boo-hooing about myself when I'm not even sure yet what my problem is, and there all of you are, having gone thru so much and are still able to find happiness and joy in your lives. That really makes me feel better! I think I may ask for an anxiety drug. I've always been a nervous person, but would never take the drugs the doctors gave me for anxiety because I was drinking and didn't want to mix them with the booze. I spent time in detox a year and a half ago, only to have a relapse, and then gave it up again after spending the night in the hospital last month. Amazing how fear alone can make a person give up bad vises. I really was clueless about throat cancer until I came into this website. I always worried about lung cancer (have to have chest xrays taken yearly because I have granulomas and have tested positive for tb (altho never had it) one time in my life. But I never even gave throat cancer a thought...because I was ignorant about it all until I came onto this website. I'm just so thankful for finding it now. I'm working on getting my son to quit his chewing and drinking now. He's diabetic too, so it's been a real worry for me. Anyway, I need to get ready for my appt now.....altho the nurse who scheduled it said the oral surgeon would just do a look see today and will biopsy it another day. Wish me luck! Take care and thanks again so very, very much for making me realize that life is worth fighting for and living and there is a light at the end of any tunnel, no matter what the diagnosis! Shelley

Hi Shelly,

If you noticed in my signature, I have had cancer twice, two spearate incidents 4 years apart. The only symptom I had the first time was a small lump in my neck. Being a smoker/drinker, I wasn't about to ignore it. I found the second one when I swallowed a large vitamin pill and it hurt. Considering my history, I thought it might bear checking out.

The first cancer they biopsied the entire tumor, the second cancer they only took a piece. Both times they knew if was cancer within the hour, but the detailed reports took a few days. That is why I went to the hospital to have the biopsy because needle biopsy in the office took two weeks to get the results. See if you can't push to get some kind of results sooner.

Eileen

Shelley,
you need to get yourself to an AA meeting and get into the program. You have been given the gift of a "convincer", now its up to you what you are going to do with it. This is just a suggestion. It may save your life.

Well, I saw the base oral surgeon today and was not exactly happy about the appt. He seemed to do a pretty thorough examination, but he said he could not see the area I was talking about (which in my defense, my dentist and one other doctor have seen it too). He said he could see that an area in my throat was red and irritated, but he said that was due to my past smoking. Told me to come back to him in two weeks for him to check it again then to see if it hasn't gotten better? Said none of my lymph nodes were swollen and that that was almost always a sure way to know if something was going on. I felt like screaming and crying both....I am NOT imagining this ulcerated area, it's just in such a darned difficult spot to see. So.....I'm still going to go to see the other oral surgeon that my dentist recommended. My dentist said he is who taught him, so since he (the dentist) did see the ulcer last visit, he can at least tell this oral surgeon exactly where it is. I was hoping to at least feel some relief, but I still feel very unsettled. I know this other oral surgeon will do a biopsy though as my dentist called him and told him about it and they've already informed me not to eat or drink after midnight the night before and to bring someone with me to drive me home. So, I guess it's six more days of waiting. Gary, you are right about the AA too, I need to get my butt back there. I had a seizure (that they never did find out what from) which is what landed me in detox in the first place (about a year and a half ago). I then went to four or six weeks of an intensive outpatient program. The real kicker here is that my husband is a computer networker for anheuser-busch! He brings home two (free) cases of beer a month, which was my drink of choice, I never drank hard liquor, but had to have my beer. I think the drinking was masking all my stomach and Lord knows what other problems I had as it wasn't until I did quit this last time that I started feeling like crap in general with heartburn and reflux. I don't mean to sound like I'm putting down military doctors either, but every one of them that i've seen for this ulcer, have told me to definately not use tobacco products again, but, that it would be okay to have a glass or two of wine a night....hellooooo......recovering alcoholic here!! I really don't think any of them look into my med records or listen to half of what I tell them. On the up side, my husband made it thru his MRI without freaking out with claustrophobia (will get results in a week), and my mom made it thru her surgery.....so for tonight I will be counting my many blessings and asking the Lord to bless and watch over all of you on this website. Take care all. Shelley

Shelley,
you're in good company here. There are a fair amount of us alcy's here. I was a beeraholic myself -ever since I had an alcoholic form of hepatitus back in the 70's and the docs told me I "...could drink or I could live" (I blamed it on hard liquor and switched to beer - after a tough, white knuckle year of healing passed). Normies can have their glass of wine a night -we can get by very nicely (with the same benefit) with a glass of grape juice. After you've been around the program for a while you can be around people who drink without the temptation. I am a musician and play in bars a lot. I don't miss alcohol anymore. Remember that most normies are clueless about the disease of alcoholism.

Self medicating and not taking prescribed medications and/or having seizures (I have seen many alcoholics in detox having seizures) could be signs of problem drinking (only you know for sure).

It would make me a little more nervous that the oral surgeon is going to biopsy something that he can't visualize. Stage I and II cancers typically don't have lymph node involvement. Mine was stage III/IV and I had no lymph node involvement (although this is not typical) so his knowledge on oral cancer makes me even more nervous. Can you get insurance thru Anheiser Busch and go to an ENT or head surgeon?

Don't freak out too much about the time delay. Almost two months passed from my initial Dx to when treatment started and they expedited all of the scans and tests that I needed.

Hi Gary, Man, you sure deserve a lot of credit for being able to stay clean with your being a musician in bars (what instrument do you play?). Alcoholism is a disease that most people who don't have cannot understand. Even my dad (who smoked for about forty years and drank A LOT of beer for years, until he was diagnosed with emphazema and had two heart attacks) then quit smoking but still has three beers a night, doesn't understand it. Of course, back in the day, he would down at least a 12 pack a night followed by a few shots of something. because it never interferred with his job (he waited to have his first til after he got home from work and then didn't stop til he'd go to bed), but we never thought of it as alcholism because of this. At my worst I'd drink seven or eight beers on some nights, and a 12 pack on others. Always followed by a sleep med....whatever i could get my hands on, be it valuim, codeine, or just over the counter night time sleep aides. Because I was almost always in a drug induced state, I never stopped to think clearly about what I was doing to my body. Until I landed in detox, and then it only lasted for a short while before I thought I could handle just having a few beers a night...hah....that didn't work! Even when I'd go to my doc for check ups then he'd tell me that one beer was okay....two was pushing it and three was too much for my size and weight. Now, how stupid is that...telling an alcoholic that "one is okay"?! Not that it's their fault that I did drink, but you'd like to think that doctors would be a little more up with this disease. As for insurance with anheuser-busch, we don't have it, just have the military retired insurance, tricare prime. And we've had our share of ignorant military doctors over the years. When my husbands brain tumor came back one time his doctor didn't even inform him about it. It was only when my husband went back to him for a complete different thing that he (my husband) was leafing thru his records and saw the MRI report hiself!! I wonder how long we would have went if he hadn't of seen it? His tumor is not malignant (thank God) but it is dangerous as it grows fast and without removing it he could end up completely blind (he's already lost the vision in his left eye) or dead. He's had six surgeries already and is going to be having another one soon. Anyway, this other oral surgeon I'm going to on the 11th is not military, and hopefully, he will be able to see the ulcer. If he can't then I'll demand to see an ENT doctor, I am not going to sit still until I get an answer that I'm satisfied with. I imagine the two months you had to wait after being diagnosed and starting your treatment had to be pure hell for you? We're you even able to eat? I worry about that, as when I am nervous I can't eat and I read where so many of you guys online lost a lot of weight. I only weigh 118 pounds now as it is. Also I'm wondering, do you have a lot of scarring, do you look like you did before the surgery? I read where some of the surgeries can really change your appearance? Okay, enough of my rambling for now....have a good day! shelley

Shelley,
I can't comment on surgery as I had radiation and chemotherapy only. You don't have a diagnosis yet so you getting a little ahead of yourself. As a recovering alcoholic you must always be on the watch for the old "magic, magnifying mind" thing. Stay in the now - the future is not yours anyway. You may have a very mild pre-cancerous or even benign problem. So try to relax and enjoy each day as you wait for ALL of the information. In AA one of the definitons of fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.

I play Fender Bass, sing lead vocals and I have been toodling with my vintage Hammond B3/122 Leslie also. I work mainly with blues/rock bands. To counter this, I also play on my churches Wednesday night worship team and occasionally on the Sunday programming team.

Alcoholism only affects 20% of us so that means the rest are normies and mostly clueless. You'll get used to that. AA is a great place to vent about that.

When alcoholism runs in the family it places the family members in an even more vulnerable/susceptible position. Not only do you have AA issues but also Al-Anon, ACA and a healthy dose of CODA as well. AA by itself may not be enough, in the long haul, to address all of your recovery issues but if it puts "the plug in the jug" that's a great start.

My higher power gets all the credit. All I have to do is suit up and show up for meetings, work the steps, read the Big Book, share with/serve others and be accountable to a sponsor.

I ate like a pig during the 2 months prior to treatment knowing full well that the radiation and chemo would wipe out my taste buds temporarily and that there would be swallowing difficulties and weight loss issues.

The phase you are in was worse than when I had all of the diagnostics completed. I delayed emotional response to it all by becoming a cancer student, as it were, so I could be a more effective advocate for myself. I had to make many critical decisions in a short period of time concerning treatment options, etc. so I didn't have time to freak out. Plus AA has given me a great toolkit to "live life on life's terms" so I kept my balance pretty well throughout all of it. I was prescribed ani-anxiety meds from the beginning and took them as prescribed. They helped a lot to get past the rough spots.

And more about your dad. Most people in the program today are what we call "high functioning alcoholics". The hold their jobs, stay married, hold on to their property, many never had a DUI, police problems or been in an institution. In many ways it makes the disease look less recognizable.

Remember only YOU can take the first drink. Not your doctor or anyone else can force you. The solution is simple -DON'T TAKE THE FIRST DRINK! Blaming people, situations and institutions for your drinking is a form of denial. Alcoholism is only a symptom of the problem. In AA we say "I am the problem".

Is it too late to get insurance through Busch? If it were me I wouldn't want the military health care system treating me (I am a Vietnam Veteran by the way -I could have gone to the VA for treatment) -especially based on the information that you have shared. You don't really have a pre-existing condition yet so maybe there is still time. If you are "stuck" in the military health care system, can you shop for more competent doctors within the system?