It took me about a year of doctors visitis before i was eventualy diagnosed. Started in the summer of 2005 with an enlarged lymph gland & my g.p. told me not to worry as i'd had a virus fairly recently. He said "this happens sometimes. It probably wont go away". By the Christmas i had a blocked ear and by the January i started with serious nose bleeds. Was told by my G.P it was probably just a synus infection and given anti-biotics. Not concerned at all, i put it off a couple of months, but went back when my left nostril was blocked - i thought from persistantly blowing it to get rid of the thick discharge i had constantly. Again MORE anti-biotics and nasal spray. Went back again in the June of 2006 when i had constant nose bleeds/discharge/head aches. I again pointed out my Lymph gland which was the size of an egg - and uncomfortable. & my doctor ordered blood tests. Which resulted in an ENT appointment & i was diagnosed that week.
Phew!

My G.P knew they'd made a mistake by not reffering me sooner. But i didn't take it any firther, because cancer of any form in a 22year fit healthy non-smoking woman is so rare. & they're not gods.
At least now they'll be more vigilant and it wont happen to someone else!

They may not be gods Chelle but they are highly paid well trained professionals and as such we trust them with our lives.They dont pay for their mistakes or oversights with their lives,young formerly healthy people like Robin do.So if they get it very wrong they should be held accountable .Just like every one else.

I am bumping this thread up again because we now have several health care professionals on the forum ,who may like to comment on why there is so little improvement in early detection between the dates of this thread.
Joannas first post was in 2003 my last post was in 2007 .What has changed,and why are dentisits still getting it wrong?

One comment - I don't think it's just dentists that are getting it wrong. My first visit was to my physicians office, and even though I was very worried about the ulcer on my tongue they did bloodwork and gave me diflucan (I had recently had a bowel resection and as a result of all the antibiotics, a yeast infection in my mouth that had previously been treated with the same) .... and said wait and see how it looks in a few weeks. I had a very bad feeling about it, though, and called back within 2 weeks to ask about the best ENT to see - had a hard time getting an appt with one (Most could not see me for at least a month) and finally got in to see one who again did some more lab work and gave me steroids and said let's wait and see the test results and how the steroids work... Finally he agreed it was time to do a biopsy...

2 21 05
on exam,i can no longer find the original lesion and i see nothing in his mouth that looks abnormal. i feel no significant nodes or other lesions in his mouth that looks abnormal.
john muller md
4 5 05
diagnosis :squamous cell carcinoma, moderately well differentiated.
pathologist james burnes md

Liz, Paulie, et al,

I feel your anger and frustration and I share it with you. I have been posting on this forum for almost 2 1/2 years and every time I read about a missed chance to catch this disease early, I shudder and cringe. I know it's not only the dentists and the hygienists that are missing the diagnoses, it's the general physicians and the ENT's, as well. But, it doesn't matter who misses it, the end result is the same, someone will suffer because of their missing the cancer.

I don't know why this keeps happening. I think part of it is a lack of education. Before I had my scc, we did oral cancer screenings in our office, but I have to admit, they were not nearly as comprehensive as they are now. I'm also sure that we wouldn't have been as motivated to buy a VELscope.

By using my experience and knowledge I hope that I can make a difference. I'm sure that Mike and others like him that have not had oral cancer themselves, but are devoted to promoting early detection, can surely make a difference.

It's a difficult task, but one that we are not about to give up on. It seems that almost every day, I get involved in another way to get my points across, but there is a limit to how many people that I can reach.

I know that my story that I had published in my state dental journal reached over 6,000 dentists in PA and I hope that some, no many of them, have added better screening techniques for their patients as a result of reading my story.

I am trying to push the American Dental Assoc. to use the video interview I did with them almost 2 years ago in some sort of campaign to promote early detection. The word is, possibly in 2008.

In another post in this forum I have mentioned the news piece that hopefully will be done in 2 weeks and will be shown on the local ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. This coming spring I will be doing oral cancer screenings at a regional dental convention.

I'm hoping that with all this and more to come I'm sure, that someday I, we (Mike and others) can make a difference.

Jerry

Jerry,
"We", will make a difference!

I have e-mailed you article to all my local colleagues and attached a link to the VELScope site.

Warmest Regards,

Mike

Jerry i wish we could have had you or Mike as our dentist a year ago!!
Rob may have stood a chance,but who knows.What i hate at the moment is with the dentist he had he had NO chance.

keep up the excellent work.

love liz

Cookey,

Jerry and I just try to do our best for everyone, everyday. If you are ever in our neck of the wood either of us would be proud to be taking part in your care as your dentist.

Thanks for the kind words Cookey,

Take care of you,

Mike

I am so glad that there are professionals like Jerry and Mike who are working to educate their own peers. I also think that all of us can play a part in that, and I know a lot of us do. I actually started going to a new dentist - well, not so new, I went to her about 10 years ago but then insurance changed, etc... but I started back with her a few months ago as I really liked her before. I found that although she does do oral cancer checks on her patients, she is not as up to date on everything as I had hoped - but is very interested in hearing all about my cancer and everything I have learned about oral cancer (mostly from this wonderful web site) Although I am an RN by education, I work in information technology now so it's interesting to see how often I actually know more than my own physicians.... so I try to educate as much as possible!