Tongue

[thegreylady]

I don't really know what I am expecting here but I poted on ballofworry's thread and feel I ought to stop hijacking.
I know no one can help me except a doctor and a specialist at that but I hope you'll bear with me and give me your experiences/thoughts.
About 5 weeks ago I noticed a little lesion on my tongue, as though a crumb was caught. It didn't go so on 18th August I saw my dentist who thought it was probably nothing but she should refer me to be sure. Because of having had breast cancer 8 years ago I get extremely anxious about any possibility of cancer anywhere so she made it an 'urgent' appointment. I still have nothing from the hospital.
Last Friday, having googled, I became so panic stricken that I saw my GP who said he was 90% sure it was nothing but agreed it needed to be seen. Yesterday I rang the dentist again. She checked with the hospital who still hadn't made an appointment for me. I asked about a private appointment and have been told I can be seen within a week so I am now waiting for that appointment.
Last night I couldn't sleep so, having looked at my tongue in the mirror I googled again. I have been sick, have diarrhoea and am cold with terror.
The side of the tongue at the back is the commonest site for oral cancer. That is exactly where mine is. Originally mine looked like a bite mark, then like a pimple with a swelling behind it and now like a swelling with a dip in it. It has no whiteness and it isn't painful. I am aware of it constantly. I dare not google again so I don't even know if it could possibly be anything benign.
I wonder if I could ask some of you to google for me and tell me if you can find anything at all other than cancer for a few weeks old red swelling on the side of the tongue. Thank you.

I had something that sounds similar... looked like an ulcer but had been there for months and didn't hurt. The dentist referred me to a specialist... when I saw the specialist they did a biopsy that same day. I remember him telling me there was a whole range of possible causes that were not serious, and just one possible cause that could be serious, cancer, so they had to rule it out.

I drove myself crazy looking at pictures of tongue cancer online. It turned out to be something called lichen planus, which is totally non-serious and manageable. I get flare-ups sometimes and I have to use a steroid mouthwash but that's it.

Try not to panic!

I think it's important that she thinks you mean it.

Have you got plans for the w/e, you need lots of distractions.

Or can you lose yourself in a good book?

For now though, have some and join me in a glass of

Avocado that is exactly what I have been doing, driving myself crazy :( I know in my head that there is only a slim chance of it being cancer but some people fall on the wrong side of those statistics.
How long did it take for you to get your biopsy result?

Hi greylady I've just googled for you to try and help with your diagnosis.

Do you smoke, chew tobacco, use snuff or chew betel nuts?

Are you on a medication that could feasibly explain your 'ulcer'?

Hi greylady. DS is a dentist and said if you have never smoked or been a heavy drinker, it is extremely unlikely that you have oral cancer. He said that just because it isn't painful doesn't mean that it is something sinister.

hi greylady, it took a week for the results to come back. Fingers crossed they will know what it is and you won't even need a biopsy.

I have never ever smoked or been more than a very occasional drinker.
Thank you all so much and a special thank you to mumof3teens' dh.
You have no idea how you are helping me get through cyber wine all round.
I had my free acupuncture session today and it does seem to help the stress a lot. Three more sleeps after this one until I get some specialist input.

Mumof3teens I meant ds not dh sorry

Re medication the only thing is omeprazole which can cause B12 deficiency which can manifest as tongue problems. I have been on Omeprazole for at least 12 years.
I have never chewed betel nuts either

Not long to go now sweetheart

Hope you're having a lovely, busy week-end.

I am having a bit of a wobbler today. I just looked at the thing in the mirror and it is still there, still horrible and still very very scary. I wish I could just forget about it but every time I look at it I get that sick , sinking feeling of how could it possibly be ok? Only two sleeps now but I am so frightened. I don't know how I will cope if it is bad news. Bless you for caring.

Give me a figure greylady... What will you bet me its something bad?

Based on the advice from your Drs, lack of pain, no drinking, no smoking and the possibility that its a side effect of the medication you're currently on - I will stake £100 it's not mouth cancer.

ps (I only have £115 to last until Oct)

I daren't bet :( but I absolutely take your point. Please keep holding my hand till Monday night x

I want you to bet me it is 'something'. If you're so sure..?

Why does the lack of pain worry you?

By the way I've got an itchy spot on my back, its been there for weeks, if not months (glamorous eh?!)

On the face of it melanoma???

No, just a spot where my bra strap rubs. Flares up every couple of years. Had it for years on and off. Been seen out of the GP's surgery more than once with the words "its a pimple"!

The lack of pain worries me because a 'normal' ulcer or infection would hurt whereas a cancer is often painless in the early stages. I do know that the probability of it being cancer is low, only 2% of all cancers are oral cancers and the vast majority of those that are are related to smoking and drinking.
However it looks dodgy to me although both doctor and dentist said it probably wasn't. Once you have had cancer you are told to follow 'the three week rule' which is that you only need to begin to worry when you have had a symptom more than 3 weeks. I have had this for over a month now.
I know there are rational explanations. I am terrified of an operation on my tongue, not to be able to eat or talk, to have months and months of painful treatment and in the end well.....you know what.
Help me through this if you can, please.

I had an ulcer I didn't know I had - the dentist found it & assumed I was in agony.....I honestly didn't know it was there

They are bloody odd things ulcers imo

I can really understand that it's more worrying in your mouth. It's so, literally, in your face, you can't cover it up.

I'm with POI though and put another £100 on it being nothing serious.
Not quite sure I've got the gist of this betting business though, we all seem to be going the same way
How do the odds work on that?

Tell us about what you're doing between now and your appt. on Monday evening TGL
Reminds me of that holiday company PGL - Parents Get Lost

Not sure I'm helping (((hugs)))

Not sure about bets...I wouldn't dare.
Today I am going to try to stop myself brooding by wrapping some of the Christmas presents we have bought to take to Turkey on Oct 1st. My son has lived there since 1992 and he has a lovely wife and a now 15 year old dd (pic on my profile) so I usually go at this time of year. It has all been overshadowed by this tongue business but I will go come what may.
Tomorrow my cousin and his wife are coming to stay till Thursday. They know I have an appointment but not the details. They arrive about noon so it will be lunch first then I'll probably take them to the antique market near Nantwich in the afternoon. We'll have an early meal (6ish) then it will be off to the Nuffield.
You are helping such a lot you dear people on here. It's like reaching out in the dark and finding a friendly hand. When I was dx with breast cancer I wrote a poem for the forum I was on. I'll give you the first few lines as they seem apt:
You are a stranger
I've never seen your face
You hold my hand and walk beside me
In a dark and scary place.

Wish it was bedtime on Monday with all well (to misquote Shakespeare).

Glad you've something nice happening tomorrow and you'll have company.

And I'm very jealous of you going to Turkey, I love it, we've have 2 of our best holidays there. Really lovely people.

I like your poem too

I'm certain all will be well, not long to go now.

Thanks Bewitched, just one more night to get through.
I go to Turkey fairly often and I agree about the people. My dil's family have been so very welcoming and inclusive. I do feel at home with them. I haven't mentioned this worry to them though.

It will be such a relief for you to get the appointment over with. Don't be afraid to ask questions - I always make a note of what I want to ask in case I go blank! Hope that you manage to sleep tonight.

Is there anyone you're talking to about this in rl?

Have you ever seen anyone about your health anxiety? Have you always had it?

Bewitched gist of the betting business is I want to know how much lady really thinks she has mouth cancer. Will she bet me £100 that its cancer? Will she even bet £10?

lovely photos!

Thanks PoI. In rl I minimise how I am feeling. My family went through such a lot when I had cancer. The health anxiety dates from the end of my breast cancer treatment. My bc was triple negative which is an aggressive type so I was constantly worried about recurrence or, worse, metastases. With tnbc they say that if you get to 8 yrs from dx you are probably clear. My 8 years is up at the end of this month though I have already had this year's appt with the specialist.
The reason this fear is so acute is connected with that I think. I am so nearly free that to fall now (yes I know it is completely different) would be especially unbearable.
Re the bet, I just can't it would feel like tempting fate. If I bet it is, it will be. If I bet it isn't it will be so I daren't bet at all sorry :(

Talking to people almost always helps. I'm sure you all went through a lot. But that's life isn't it? If it had been one of them you'd have gone through it with them. If one of them was worried about something you'd want to know I think?

If you feel like this a lot you should ask to be referred to someone by your GP. Sickness, terror and the other anxiety related symptoms you're describing can take over your life.