He can do the same thing with phone call to primary physician to get ENT referral -- In my experience, dentists don't normally do biopsies and only maintain referrals to oral surgeons which his insurance apparently won't cover.

ENT may elect to do biopsy on first visit, there being not much point in delaying it any further.

Don't sit around worrying -- It is counter-productive.

Hey Pickle,

Christine got it absolutely right. With everyone around me in a royal panic, I couldn�t get an appointment to see my doctor for nearly 3 months. Since I had been bugging them his nurse was ignoring my messages and it took a threat to get an appointment. Bet she doesn�t do that again.

While I was waiting, I researched, spent time with friends, took care of the little things and did my normal Christmas dinner event. Those quality moments will stick with me until I breathe my last because I approached that holiday as if there would be no other like it.

If you wind up in treatments life will change. It will be rushed and you won�t get much time for relaxation and the little joys for a while. Keep in mind even if you get bad news, the last name added to the list stands the best chance of a cure, gets the latest and the best treatment available in history.

Spoil your family, friends and yourself now just in case. If it turns out that you discovered some new form of �oral-roid� and are perfectly healthy, that time won�t be wasted and your life will be a little better for the change in perspective.

Whatever is going on, it sounds like things are moving in the right direction and happening early.

Be well and happy,

UncleVern

Maybe Jerry, who is a dentist, could advise you about whether to go back to the dentist who wanted to wait, or to go directly to either an ENT or an oral surgeon for the biopsy. Both of the latter are surgeons. And if it is cancer, likely neither will be the ones to do any cancer surgery necessary later.

I'm so glad that you are moving forward and not waiting.

XO

My wife tricked me into to going to an ENT by getting me to take her mother for her appt only to have the ENT turn to me after looking at her and saying " so I understand I need to take a look at you also". Man was I p*%$*d. Anyway once in his chair and after feeling my neck he pulled out this 3 foot long needle (well maybe not quite that long) and stabbed me (well maybe stuck me). He called it a Fine Needle Aspiration. One week later and my life was changed forever. I guess my wife saved my life but the deceit that woman has...

Thanks everyone. You know, I feel a lot better talking to you guys. I'm really surprised at how difficult it is not to get mysel in a panic! But there's no need to panic yet, and I have to remind myself of this. It very well could turn out to be nothing. (and maybe I just have some unique colors in my mouth, kind of like my little doggie does!) I'm going to call the dentist office again today. I tried yesterday but for some odd reason, nobody would answer the phone. I'm going to talk to my sister today as well. She has always been more like a mother to me, and she's a nurse and a breast cancer survivor. She is 37. She'll help me with this stuff, too. I'm sure of it.

David, how sneaky your wife was! All for good reason, though.

Thanks for listening, for all of the advice you guys have given me, and helping me through this.

Pickle

Okay, I talked to my sister. She goes to the same dentist that I do. She said that something happened, and the dentist is out of town for the next few weeks. Her son had an appointment for next week, and they called and canceled it for him. So I tried to call some oral surgeons. Of course, they don't take my insurance or anything, and the one I would see if I could is not in the office today. The one office I did talk to, they weren't very nice! The lady told me that it is more of a medical issue than a dental type issue, even though it is in my mouth, and basically told me to call someone else. Rather than fight with her or anyone, I called my insurance company and told them I needed help finding someone who can do this for me. The lady said okay, and she couldn't find an oral surgeon on their provider list, so I told her about what you guys said about an ENT doctor being able to do it. So she looked them up, and even called them to see if they could do a biopsy of the roof of my mouth, and they said yes, and so I got an appointment scheduled. It's on March 5. I do feel better about something being planned for, and feel good that things are now moving along! And really, March 5 isn't that far away. When I was younger, it would have felt like forever. But as I get older, it seems time just flies right by so fast! All I have to do now, is call my primary care physician and make sure he writes it in my chart in his notes that he wants me to see the ENT doctor for a biopsy, and I'll be good. So that is what I've accomplished today so far. now I have to go to work! Have a great day everyone!

Pickle

Keep us posted and lets hope it's nothing but weird colors like your dog.

Pickle,

You have learned a very valuable lesson very early in this game....IF IT'S TO BE, IT'S UP TO ME! Bravo to you for being stubborn and getting the answers you needed...some people would have given up and let things take their course...a bad option if you are dealing with oral cancer.

The reason you feel better is that you took control. During a scary time, it is hard to do. You just want someone to fix it for you.

Good luck in the next few weeks. We will keep our fingers crossed for good news.

Deb

Well, I went for my appointment at the ENT doctor's office today. Turned out to not be such a good excperience!

My dentist when he saw the spots initially said he was concerned by them, and they bothered him they were there. Then my primary care physician saw them, and he said I needed a biopsy, and the sooner the better. I ended up going back to my dentists office, as I wanted to ask about those spots again. I went back last Tuesday. Well, my dentist wasn't there, and I saw one filling in for him. He looked carefully at the spots, and he said I needed the biopsy, too. He said he thought those spots looked like they could be cancerous, although nobody could say anything unless the biopsy was done.

So anyways, off I went to my appointment. And to make a long story short, the ENT doctor looked at them for all of 2 seconds, maybe, and said they were nothing, and I should come back in 3 months to have them rechecked. He said they were moles? Now, while I do hope they are really nothing, I had to wonder about a few things here. First of all, the second dentist said nobody could tell for sure what something was unless a biopsy was done. Could he look at it and be so sure it was indeed nothing? If it's nothing, and they are just moles, then why have me come back in 3 months to have them rechecked, and not just follow up with my dentist to watch them? The doctor wouldn't really allow me to tell him anything about what had been going on (symptoms), or anything. I was asked very little health/family history by a nurse (or whatever she was?), and while I was trying to answer her questions, she got up and walked out on me, telling me over her shoulder that he would be in soon. I was shocked! I never got to tell them of my sore throat/roof of my mouth that comes and goes, nothing. Before the doctor came in the room, I heard him talking to someone out at the desk. He had his hand on the door knob, as I had seen it turn before he pushed the door open while he was talking. I heard him tell who ever it was he'd be back in 3 minutes. 3 minutes? It seemed he had already decided what the problem was before he even came in, and that he was going to send me on my way immediately, or something? I don't know.

I never saw an ENT doctor before. Are all appointments with one like that? When I left, I was just in shock, I think. Then i thought about it and I decided that no, I was NOT going to take this guy's word for it. I didn't need another opinion, I was supposed to go get a biopsy. If I simply went upon opinions, I'd be left so confused! The 2 dentists and my doctor are concerned, and the one dentist told me he thought it very well could be cancerous, and then this guy said it was nothing. One cannot simply take someone's opinion. I decided I needed to do what I could to go get a biopsy, even if I have to see 100 doctors of sorts to find one to do one. I would rather find out it really is indeed nothing serious, and have wasted my time, than to do nothing but wait and discover it is something bad and precious time has been lost and it's worse than if I'd had it done in the first place instead of waiting, etc.

So tomorrow I will be seeing an oral surgeon. I decided that even if I have to pay out of pocket to see him and have it done, it's worth it. And maybe he'll actually listen to me when I go in, too. I just want to get it all over with so I can put this behind me. I don't like the stress of not knowing anything, and having the question mark in my mind. It's horrible to worry, especially if it's needlessly!

I'll let you guys know what happens at my appointment with the oral surgeon. Thanks for listening, and for all the support you have given me.

Pickle

Good for you!! What an ssa. We all love to think that our doctor got A+'s in all aspects of medicine, but like every profession there are those that excel and those that......mmmm.....don't.

I am so very happy you are being your own advocate. Had I been as assertive i wouldn't have wasted almost a year before I was finally diagnosed.

Keep us posted.

Donna