Hi anyone and everyone! I am trying to stay calm while I
wait for my biopsy results. I went in for what I thought was a simple biopsy, something along the lines of a needle extraction and/or perhaps a small piece of skin removal. Well, when I looked in a mirror when I got home it seems 1/3 of the left side of my tongue and underneath have been removed. Very deep hole too. Like the saize and shape of a jawbreaker. My tongue is still sore so I cannot stick it out far enough as to see how far back the stitches went. The front was cartiroied and some stitches in there somewhere in there he said. I was worried because I thought they waited for the results of a biopsy to decide if something should removed.

Hi, Sunshine
Welcome to OCF - sorry that you and your poor sore tongue have to be here, though. Biopsies don't alway go exactly as planned - what the surgeon takes depends on what he sees. Are you able to stay hydrated? Do you have adequate pain meds?
Best wishes and keep posting.
Maria

Welcome to OCF! Try to keep yourself busy to help pass the waiting time. Hope your biopsy comes back with nothing serious wrong. Best wishes with your healing!

Hi there the advice Christine and Maria have given is good. Try not to fret. Ideally your dr took a chunk of what he saw hoping he got it all - plus a decent sized margin. That's a good thing he obviously didn't like what he saw - cancer or not. Good luck and i hope very much it's nothing.

Didn't you discuss what he/she was going to do before the procedure?

waiting for results is the worst. STAY BUSY. try to keep your mind off of it as much as possible and they will come sonner than you think. hope all goes well.

Hello LMS!

Excisional biopsies are the way to go. I had one prior to my initial diagnosis where the oral surgeon removed a piece of my tongue that was about the size of a chick pea. Boy, did it hurt for about 4 days. But, he saved my life by doing it right the first time. He sent it out to a pathology service that specializes in oral lesions/cancer. The results took a week, so the waiting was really tough. I wish I had joined the forums at that point, but I didn't. I was too afraid, so kudos to you for being smart and courageous to face your fears. We are all here to support you, cancer or not. Hopefully...not!

As far as tolerating food, I had to let popsicles melt a bit, then eat them because my tongue was too sensitive to the extreme cold. Ice cream would have to warm up a bit, too. I LOVE chocolate, but many people find that chocolate irritates the tongue in these cases, so you might want to try something else. My surgeon also gave me an antiseptic rinse called chlorohexidine (or something like that) and it helped keep the area clean.

I'll be hoping and wishing for you to have no evidence of disease. Please come back for help and keep us posted as your are able.

With great care,
Kerri

Welcome, and hope you won't need to be on this forum long and that your biopsy will be negative.

I also sent you a private message. In case you want to chat, I also live in Illinois.