Hi - apologies if I'm doing things the wrong way but I've never been on a forum before. My husband noticed a rash in his mouth a month or so ago and went to the dentist who told him it was lichenplanus but it wasn't a concern. He then felt pain in his jaw and neck and some lumps in his cheek. He returned to the dentist who refered him to hospital. His appointment was this Wednesday and the consultant seemed a little concenrned about the lichenplanus and asked him to book an appointment for a biopsy. The earliest appointment was for 20 january. This seems a long time to wait if there is any possibility that this is cancer and he is obviously very worried untill he gets a definate diagnosis. Does this seem a normal time to wait, and if not does any one have any suggestions to how we should push to get him seen sooner?

Hi Tessa

Get to your GP and see him/her. It might be advisable to ask if there is a doctor in the practice who has specialized in ENT as they might have a better idea.

To be honest, personally I don't have a lot of faith in dentists.

Good luck

Ray

Good Morning Tessa,
20 Jan does seem to be a long time to wait,hopefully this is indicative of the level of concern which the consultant has.I feel sure that if he had a serious suspicicion that the problem was cancer he would have arranged an earlier appointment. Keep a careful eye on the present symptoms and if there is any development contact the clinic and ask for an appointment, if you have difficulties with the appointment system contact the dentist who made the initial referal, your GP may also be in a position to help. If the symptoms develop doing nothing is not an option.
Please let us know how you get on.
Keep Smiling
John

Thanks for your advice. Ian contacted the hospital to say he was concerned about the wait and they've now arranged an appointment for next Wednesday. Hopefully everything will be fine but if there's any chance of it being cancer it was so worrying to think of leaving it for that long.

Hi Tessa, it's good that your husband has an earlier appointment and as John said, hopefully the length of the Jan 20th date might mean that things will turn out ok. If you need more support you are definately in the right place. Good luck next week, hagg.

Just to let you know that my husbands biopsy results were clear with no abnormal cells which was a huge relief. He's going to have an ultrasound scan on an enlarged gland on his neck but the doctor said that as this was mobile he wasn't seriously concerned. Thank you for your advice and support it really helped when it was a very worrying time.

Merry Everything to you and your hubby, Tessa.

I am so glad that all is well and that you can now breath a sigh of relief.

Take Care

Ray