Tongue biopsy scheduled... very nervous

CateViolet

I officially have a biopsy scheduled for August 7th which seems like forever away. My dentist found a white patch on my tongue. I have been a smoker off and on for 9 years so I know I shouldn't be surprised but I am. I'm only 27 and I have a 4, 2, and 1 year old to think about. The patch on my tongue is very small, maybe half the size of a pea? If it is something hopefully I've caught it early? I literally know nothing about this (except terrifying things from Google). Will they take the whole spot off at the biopsy? How bad is it going to hurt? Thanks for your help.

soonermom

Biopsy

I can only tell you that the biopsy was not difficult for my husband to tolerate.  Hopefully, you will get good news after your biopsy.  

CivilMatt

Welcome

CateViolet,

Welcome to the H&N forum, I am sorry that you are here, but it is not cancer until they say it is cancer and like many of us a positive biopsy was our ticket to ride.

I had surgery to remove cancer from my base of tongue and a jugular biopsy to remove an entangled lymph node (which was cancer).  Neither spot gave me much trouble or pain.  It was same day surgery and then home I went.  I don’t know what they are going to do to you?  If it is only a biopsy, they may not   take much, but if it looks like cancer they may dial up the procedure.

Nine years seems fast to cook up cancer from smoking, but who knows.

Yes, your dentist should be commended, a number of dentists have been the harbinger of problems ahead.

Doctor Google has a bad bed side manner, but he is very popular.

Try to relax and hopefully July 28, 2017 will be a nonissue.

Good Luck.

Matt

Terribean

Tongue biopsy

cateViolet

I just went thru all of this, starting at the end of Feb.2017. They finally did a biopsy on May 1st! I too, was also scared about this but the Dr. was so very nice. They numb you 1st(thank you God) & once your numb do the biopsy. It did not hurt. The hardest part next was waiting for the results. Unfortunately mine was Cancer. But it was also bigger then yours, plus I am a 2 time B.C. Survivor.May I make a suggestion to you. Even thou your nervous about this, try to get in as early as you can. I was a Stage 1 but by the time they sent me to a surgeon, then scheduled my surgery it grew, which ment more things had to be done to remove the tumor.It was then Stage 2. The good news is, I am good, they see no Cancer anywhere else because I addressed this as soon as I could & I'm on the mend once again. Please feel free to ask me any other ?'s you may have. I'll be praying for you & wish you the best.

 

Tonita

I had a white patch that I

I had a white patch that I thought was a canker sore.  It hurt like hell.  They take just a small piece for the biopsy after numbing.  Mine took about a week.  I already knew mine was cancer when it didn't heal.  A surgery was scheduled to remove the tumor and 42 lymph nodes.  They got everything and I didn't have to have radiation or chemo.  I guess I was lucky.  I was a heavy smoker as well.

OKCnative

I'm only about a month ahead

I'm only about a month ahead of you treatment wise. Noticed an enlarged node and my 2nd ENT (fired the 1st one) saw a small spot on the base of my tongue.

I had a neck node biopsy to confirm the cancer and then later had a biopsy of my tongue (by my surgeon) to make certain that was the only and primary tumor.

The tongue biopsy was really a piece of cake. Outpatient surgery. They put me under and I work up with a slightly sore throat and tongue, went home and even went out to dinner that night at an Italian restaurant. Didn't take any pain meds (I prefer not to take meds) and swallowing was painful, but not more than a sore throat and a pain similar to an aching canker sore.

I had already begun my extra attention to oral hygenie by this point. So, I was brushing 3-5x a day, using a Waterpik and gargling with salt/baking soda and a alcohol free medicated mouth wash. This made my mouth feel fresher and reduced the risk of infection. I had also already started uping my protein intake to help my body under stress.

The one piece of advice I would share is this --- Get the tongue biopsy as early on as possible. Mine was done almost 4 weeks after my first appointment with the cancer center. They wanted me to start treatment the next week. I knew that my tongue would not have healed by then and once radiation and chemo start, there was a decent chance the tongue would have a very hard time healing. Because of this I insisted they delay treatment until 2 weeks after the biposy. Yesterday was 2-weeks. So, I start treatment on Tuesday.

Good luck, but don't sweat the tongue biposy.

CateViolet

Thanks for the advice!

You all are so supportive, I appreciate every word of advice and encouragement. Still trying not to panic but I felt the lymph nodes in my neck and they are definitely swollen. I am not otherwise sick right now so now I'm worried about that too. I really don't have a good feeling about this. 

Tonita

CateViolet said:

Thanks for the advice!

You all are so supportive, I appreciate every word of advice and encouragement. Still trying not to panic but I felt the lymph nodes in my neck and they are definitely swollen. I am not otherwise sick right now so now I'm worried about that too. I really don't have a good feeling about this. 

Getting ahead of yourself is

Getting ahead of yourself is the worst thing you can do.  Deal with things as they come. 

OKCnative

Are you going straight to

Are you going straight to tongue biopsy or have they done/discussed a needle biopsy to the nodes on your neck?

My ENT identified a spot on my tongue but suggested a needle biopsy first. That was less invasive and I got the results the next day (SCC, base of the tongue).

The next step was to have a cancer team evaluate me more indepth and then do a tongue biposy to make sure the spot they were seeing was cancerous and was the primary tumor.

Have you done a PET scan yet? I had a PET scan early on to confirm cancer and get an idea where it was (base of tongue and nodes only for me).

They will also most likely test your biopsy to see if you are HPV postive (cross your fingers that you are - based on your age I'd say there is a really good chance you are if you don't drink or smoke).

The anxiety you are feeling is completely normal. I felt it for a couple of days. But, once everything was confirmed I decided to ditch the pitty party and just put up the best fight possible. We've actually made very light of the situaton with friends and family. First thing we did was make a list of all my favorite restaurants and places I've wanted to try. We've been going out and getting in some really good meals while I slowly put some additional weight on (in anticipation of losing some) and get a chance to enjoy some really good food before the mere mention of food makes me ill.

My openness and joking/positive attitude have made this much less awkward around people who know but don't know how to act around me. The ladies at the office even made me a "Happy Cancer Cake" and we celebrated this challenge as opposed to ignoring,avoiding it and dreading.

I also found early on to stop Googling my condition and instead really on forums such as this one. Much better and more realistic information.

Good luck!

Bart T

BIOPSY EASY, BUT THE WAIT IS THE HARD PART

I’ll start by saying I Hope your biopsy is negative, and if so, in the grand scheme of things, the actual pain of the procedure and the healing that follows is insignificant. If it is positive, the important thing to keep in mind is that the disease is very survivable with many of us living life very full and normal lives. Whatever you do, don’t get too far ahead of yourself because if it is positive, there are hundreds of variations on the type and nature of disease and your treatment, and until you know, you can drive yourself crazy with speculation. Additionally, it seems like the only stories you hear about are the worst of the worst.

I’m sure you’re in for a better biopsy experience that me, and I think I’m the record holder for the world’s worst tongue biopsy. I was referred to an ENT by my regular doctor. I sat in her chair, and she said she wanted to do a biopsy. I said OK. I had no idea what a biopsy was or why it was being done. The next thing I knew, between the doctor and her assistant, they had me a wrestling style headlock. One of them grabbed my tongue with a piece of gauze and poked and prodded for a few seconds. As the procedure was going on, the doctor was dictating to an assistant something to the effect that she was looking to confirm her diagnosis of tongue cancer.

That was the absolute first time I heard the word cancer even mentioned. I was holding gauze on my tongue which was bleeding, and tried to ask the doctor, but nothing came out but incoherent mumbling. The doctor excused herself, and after a few minutes I regained my ability to talk. I asked to see the doctor and was told she left for the day.

Yes this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The unbelievable part of the story was that the biopsy was not done in a third world country, but suburban New York City.

The actual pain and discomfort from the biopsy was transient and easily manageable. In my case is turns out it was cancer, I was treated (far from pleasant), and 5 years later, I’m living 100% of my pre-cancer life (maybe 95% if you count that I can’t enjoy alcohol or spicy foods and suffer from dry mouth).

 My best wishes to you for a good outcome. Let us know the results. Please don’t let your mind spin out of control with all the endless possibilities. If it turns out to be cancer, you’ll work out a plan with your doctors and do your research, with this board as a very good starting point. If it turns out not to be cancer, you’ll put the level of trauma in the same category as a bad dentist visit. 

Tback

Tongue

i have a place on the side of my tongue that looks like an inverted canker sore...meaning it is flat. It is sort of a neutral color. My dentist saw it last week and said if it had not significantly improved this week, he was sending me to have it biopsied. It has gotten smaller, as it looks like the edges are closing together (as a sore heals) , but not all the way. It is not sore. I am terrified. 

I have never smoked and the last adult beverage I had was on vacation 7 years ago...so I am basically a non drinker. 

 

CivilMatt

Tback said:

Tongue

i have a place on the side of my tongue that looks like an inverted canker sore...meaning it is flat. It is sort of a neutral color. My dentist saw it last week and said if it had not significantly improved this week, he was sending me to have it biopsied. It has gotten smaller, as it looks like the edges are closing together (as a sore heals) , but not all the way. It is not sore. I am terrified. 

I have never smoked and the last adult beverage I had was on vacation 7 years ago...so I am basically a non drinker. 

 

welcome. I did not smoke or drink either.

Tback,

Welcome to the H&N forum, sorry that you are here, but maybe you will be lucky and not have any cancer.  Until you have had a positive biopsy, with a cancer onc (or ENT) declaring you have cancer, you are too early.  We try not to borrow trouble and there are many who stop by these pages with a problem which is benign.

Many of us discover a swollen lymph node in the neck with no pain whatsoever; others do have a more prominent presentation.

I hope you fall on the good side.

You may want to start a new thread if you want more response?

Matt

CEA1267

biopsy

I also went through both a needle biopsy (actually 4 seperate ones) in the DRs office in December of 16 and then a more extensive tongue base biopsy in January of 17 both in and out proceedures. They are very simple to have done but stressful while you wait both before and after the proceedures. They are very important steps that need to be done, I pray they come back negative for you. One day at a time, one proceedure at a time. Good luck.