Waiting tongue cancer results

Hi all

Around 7 weeks ago when I was staying down south with my BF I started developing holes all over my tongue. I left it for a week.  half presuming I'd bitten it and half terrified because I knew I hadn't.

These holes are under/on top but mostly at the right side. Half underneath my tongue. I was also nearly passing out or almost screaming and moaning with agony. I was literally writhing round the bed beside myself.

I finally managed to get an emergency appointment with the dentist. She had a look and called for a second opinion. The guy dentist came in and 4 seconds of looking said to her "urgent 2 week pathway with maxillo facial from effect immediately"

I said that word.  Cancer?

He looked at me straight and said I'm not going to paint over this. I don't like the look of this at all. It's definitely at the forefront of my mind.

I then started to get awful earache and I felt like there was always something stuck in my throat.

My throat now is a new addition. It feels like im constantly swallowing glass and its incredibly painful.

7 weeks later and a few holes have healed only to discover new ones constantly.

I'm now back up north having had a biopsy. The results should be here Monday or Tuesday.

If its not cancer I'll eat my hat. (If I could)

And if it really isn't then what kind of ulcer or bite takes over 7 weeks to heal.

If it is cancer then it better be ready for me. I've never lost a fight yet :)

Please let me know your absolute honest thoughts please. Don't worrying about telling me what you honestly think.

I reckon it's pretty obvious anyway 

Thanks all xxx

 

  • Hi. I am new to all this and sad to think you are awake too at this hour!

    We are in a similar position. I saw my dentist last Tuesday and he found an enlarged gland under/into my tongue. I have had a saw throat and burning sensation in my mouth for weeks and felt generally unwell. He said I must see my Dr which i was lucky enough to do the next day. He had my bloods done, arranged a chest xray for next Tuesday and an ENT referral for next Wed. It's all very quick, which I am fearful about. I don't have the awful pain you have, 

    I guess I will have a biopsy on Wednesday - what was that like? I wish you well re the results.

  • Hiya love 

    How awful is this worrying and waiting?!

    You don't have the biopsy on the first visit. It's usually just for an examination.

    And I'm not quite sure why they've sent you to ENT instead of maxillo facial. They specialise in anything oral including dentistry, orthodontics and any cancers located anywhere within the head. I'd check that if I was you because this whole process will probably take longer for you because I'm betting anything that ENT will refer you to maxillo facial anyway and then you'll have to wait.

    At my first appointment with the maxillo facial specialist he examined me and asked me various questions about my alcohol use (I used to be an alcoholic) and smoking (around 12 a day) requested an xray of my teeth to look for any sharp edges. There's a few but they've been there for 6 years and i have never bitten my tongue. There was no blood whenever I discovered any of them and the sharpest teeth in the world couldn't get 5mm deep into various unreachable parts of my tongue like underneath and the back etc

    He then declared that I had been biting my tongue. Even though I had just said all this. He just shrugged.

    I had the biopsy 4 days later and I requested local anaesthetic and the lady specialist gave me tons. She said that she would bet a thousand pounds that they weren't Bites and to even suggest that was ludicrous. But I didn't feel a thing. The only thing I started to do was shake violently. I felt OK though.

    She said that the anaesthetic was laced with adrenaline and that was the reason. My tongue felt absolutely enormous and needed 3 stitches. Didn't feel those either.

    I felt kinda daft walking back outside to meet my dad to go home. I was shaking and kinda high

    Only once it wore off did I feel a lot of pain but the worst and most annoying thing was the stitches. She seemed to leave big strands on after the end of each stitch and I kept catching them with my teeth and it was total agony on top of agony.

    Best of luck with everything and fingers crossed for you.

    Try to get a strong prescription only pain killer from your doctor

    for afterwards xxx

     

     

  • Hi thanks for replying so quickly.

    my dr wasn't sure which was the better department to refer me to as part of the problem is my tongue and then down into the throat. It's a relief to know it won't be a biopsy on Wed although the sooner I know what it's going on the more I can deal with it. 
    I don't smoke or drink more than a couple of units a week. I have wondered if it's an allergic reaction to something but the mess my tongue is in probably rules that out.

    good luck with your biopsy result this week. Do post and share if it helps. Take care

  • Best of luck lovely.

    Are they sure that there's nothing stuck in there like a fragment of tooth or a sharp bit of food that pierced into the tongue and is now infected? Or healing abnormal? 

    I'm obviously just guessing but every tongue/throat/mouth cancer article or picture sounds nothing like that.

    Obviously get it checked and I'm no medical expert but you quickly learn tons when you're on the suspicious list.

    If possible please let me know how it goes 

    Fingers and toes crossed xx

  • Hiya

    The gland under/into my tongue on the left is enlarged and the very back  left of the tongue is raw with sores that aren't healing although not really ulcers. The left side of my throat is raw too.My mouth and tongue have a permanent burnt sensation. The dr didn't hesitate in arranging all the tests and the hospital appointment which took me by surprise,  I will  know more on Wednesday. If it is cancerous I'm not sure how I will cope. Fingers crossed!

    I hope you get answers soon.

  • To put your mind at ease.  My brother had a similar experience years ago.  His tongue just began to get sore and holes and other things just started to appear. His turned out to be a form of crohns (an inflammatory digestive issue).  He too was sent for an emergency appointment after his dentist basically stating "OMFG, this looks bad" as you have been and from the surgeon, he was referred to a Gastroenterologist (GI Doc for short).

    Don't rule out it being an autoimmune thing.

    I'm never one to encourage the good old google search, but if you look up "crohn's tongue", you'll see what i mean. UC can do this too and that's also a GI thing. Sounding more of an autoimmune thing than a cancer tbh.

    This is in no shape or form "this is what you have" post, but cancer is probably the least likely outta of the things from what you've described.

  • Thanks so much I'll look it up. I have an autoimmune disease already so you may be right. I'll let you know