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Biopsy results - Anxiety!

ellie099
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Hi all, 

I hope you're doing well :) 

I posted on here a few months back, as my Dad had been having problems with his tongue. It was sore (still is), and he says he had like red bumps on it (I've looked and to me it kind of just looks like a normal tongue but slightly redder, but I'm not a doctor I guess!) 

He then got put on the two week cancer pathway, he went for an appointment with an oral surgeon who looked in his mouth and he says everything looked normal, he had a slight ulcer on his tongue so they did a biopsy. He received a letter from the hospital to his doctors stating what was discussed and it says on the letter he is now being discharged from the cancer pathway. 
 

After the biopsy he was told they'd get in touch in a few weeks for the results, an appointment came through maybe 3-4 weeks after? The day before the appointment, the hospital cancelled it! As they said the results wouldn't all be there in time. We then didn't hear anything for another 2-3 weeks maybe (I can't remember exactly, so roughly) and he got another appointment for the results with the oral surgeon. 
 

His appointment is on Wednesday and I'm just so worried. He says his tongue is still slightly sore, however it doesn't look as though he's got anything new on his tongue and hasn't developed any other symptoms as far as we know. 
 

I'm also worried because his appointment got put off so long, would this be the case if they had found cancer? Would they rush to get him in for the appointment? The amount of time that his appointment was put off just worries me as if there was anything serious there to worry about, has it had chance to spread etc? 
 

Please can anyone share their experiences around the cancer pathway, biopsies and how results are delivered etc? I'm going with my dad to his appointment as I don't want him to be on his own, but I just don't know what to expect. I want to keep calm for my dads sake too but it's worrying me so much, I think it's mostly just the unknown! 
 

thank you so much for listening to me!

ellie x 

  • Offline

    Hiya.

    I worked in a dental setting for a few years (wasn't a dentist, so that's clear from the off). It's only natural when we're worried to read waaaaaaaaay too much into things that under normal circumstances, we wouldn't bat an eyelid at. Whether it be a word in a letter, how a nurse looked at us a certain way before we get told results, the type of appointment we are given and so on. We over analyse everything, and it's usually wrong. But it's what we do.

    Anyway, back onto the tongue, has it been mentioned at any point that this may be burning mouth syndrome? As the name alludes to, it usually presents as a burning sensation anywhere within the oral cavity. Every person perceives pain differently, so it's not always described as an actual burning sensation. It can simply be a raw, sore or uncomfortable sensation. If all comes back ok, which I'm sure it will, I'd enquire about whether it could be burning mouth syndrome. It's a fairly common complaint in the grand scheme of things. Due to the nature of the oral cavity, the cells are very fast-growing. It's why chemo affects the mouth because chemo is designed to impact on fast growing cells. So oral cancer tend to be very obvious as they can change and often do, fast. It's why anyone with a none healing lesion or red/white watch should always seek an opinion either from a dentist or gp if the issue is still present after 2 weeks. Most issues heal within 2 weeks.

  • Offline in reply to ProfBaw

    Hey! 

    Thank you so much for getting back to me. 
     

    They haven't really gave any suggestions as to what it could be, when he first spoke to the doctor about it they gave him some drops for his tongue and said they'd treat it as an infection first, but this didn't clear it up. That is when the doctor put him on the cancer pathway and he had the appointment with the oral surgeon and then the biopsy. 
     

    My dad felt as though the pain on the tongue went away a little bit after the biopsy weirdly enough! But now he feels as though it is back. 
     

    So would it be likely that if this was to be cancer then it would have developed quite obviously within the time he's been waiting for his results, with it being so long? 
     

    I will definitely look into the burning mouth syndrome - Is this something that is treatable? 
     

    It is hard to not read into every little thing whether it be the letters or the way that doctors say things, you're right!

     

    Thank you again for your response, it's been really really helpful. Fingers crossed all is clear on Wednesday! 
     

    ellie x

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