Hi, I first noticed a non-healing sore patch on the left side of my toungue Christmas 2005, I showed it to my GP in February who was happy I had an appointment with my dentist the following week. I saw the dentist March and November 2006, and again in early May 2007 when he referred me to a maxillo clinic. Appointment came in for 5th June but consultant rang in sick. Now going Tuesday 19th. Since the dentist referred me I have coughed for England but I don't know if that is the remains of a cold; because I'm scared; or signs of a secondary. I've not told my husband how scared I feel, we started our own business April 2006 with our two sons. His son died in a car accident last August. He also lost his brother to liver cancer in June last year, and his mother a few months earlier. We only married in 2004. How can I do this to him? Why did the dentist take so long to refer me? Why didn't I make more of a fuss earlier? Sorry this is such a ramble.

Hi JaniceR

I have to be cruel to be kind with my answer. Until you've actually been to see the consultant, you only have suspicions and no concrete evidence of anything nasty happening to you. It's sad that your husband has had to experiences recently - but they say bad things come in threes and if you believe that, he's had his 3!
In answer to your last hows and whys... that doesn't matter anymore. You are now doing something about it and however the diagnostics go, you have to face them square on and sort the problems out.

By the way, I'm scared of Yorkshire too

Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you
Pete

Hey Janice
I am not scared of Yorkshire at all.I live 9 miles north of Leeds,and my husband went through exactly the same troubles as you have.He first went to the dentist in March 2006 and four visits and several hundreds of pounds later he went to the Doctor.He was eventually diagnosed in December and was treated immediatley.By the time he was diagnosed i had read every page that i could find on the internet and was sick with worry,to such an extent that when we actually heard his diagnosis confirmed,i felt quite relieved that we hadnt had all that stress for nothing.I know that might sound wierd but this period of doubt is a real killer,once you know for definate you will be so busy either getting on with your life ,or fighting this illnessthat you wont have time to worry.
You have found your way to a good place, now use it to let off steam, rant and rave, ask questions,or even voice your deepest fears about anything ,there,is always someone around to help.Trust me when i tell you that if the news is not good then things will happen very quickly and you wont have the time to think straight ,so use these few days to get your head straight so you can ask all the questions you need answers too.

good Luck
Liz

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cookey,

Thank you Phinsing and cookey for your responses. I appreciate that this may come to nothing and I thank you Phinsing for reminding me of that in my moment of panic. I also thank you for the smile about being scared of Yorkshire. Thank you cookey for your advice of doing research ahead of my appointment. I still have not told Michael (my husband) but his first wife is coming with me to the appointment on Tuesday. Therein lies a long and interesting story. If I end up introducing myself as a cancer victim I will tell it to you, in unfolding chapters. If I end up with good news I might tell it to you anyway if you ask me nicely.

You will have started all us nosy parkers wondering now lol

liz

I hope you are worrying needlessly but will be thinking about you with fingers crossed on Tuesday.

I reiterate everything said about this forum. I have received a fantastic amount of support here where mysteries have been unravelled and always someone to give advice.

Oringally a Lancashire Lass, I have every reason to be scared of Yorkshire.

We will be all ears!
Good luck.

Best wishes
Vinod

OK,Chapter one for those who want to hear it. I've known Julia (Michael's first wife) since I was seven and she was ten. I delight in reminding her she will always be 3 years older than me. Our main association at that time was the mouse club that we had with Julia's friend, Helen; in a little hut we were allowed in their garden. We never quite got the knack of sexing the mice so they multiplied and the mouse club was closed down once the mice got into the house.

Tomorrow terrifies me but is something I know I have to face.

Hello Janice

If you could face the multiplying mice , you will be okay!

Good luck for Tuesday.

Best wishes
Vinod

Many thanks for all your support. I saw the consultant today and they think it is very unlikely I have anything to worry about and it is most probably trauma that has become chronic caused by a tooth. I am on the waiting list for a biopsy and the consultant quite rightly said that they are sometimes surprised by the result of a biopsy but his expectation was that there was nothing nasty going on. The cough is unrelated. I will come back on and let you know the results of the biopsy but at least I am massively reassured by my visit to the hospital today and feel I can stop panicking. Once again, thank you all for your support. I'll also post a bit more of the Julia story, I promise a short version.

Chapter two. Julia started going out with Michael in 1971, they married in 1974 and I was the bridesmaid. I then had a 27 year blip in London and we gradually lost touch apart from Christmas cards and the odd phone call. We had mutual friends in West Yorkshire who gave splendid parties and I was shocked when they told me that Julia and Michael had split up in 1999. I had recently split with someone and when I went to our friend's 50th birthday party Michael and I talked until the sun came up - 8:00am! We all e-mailed and had the odd visit. Easter 2002 Michael visited me in London with the mutual friends. They went home a day early, three bottles of champagne and the rest is history. Julia and I are still good friends, we grew closer when we lost Danny last August (Julia and Michael's 23 year old). We are just all there for each other. El, (Julia and Michael's 26 year old daughter) thinks it is marvellous that she has so many parents and that they all talk to each other - and she loves having two mothers to go shopping with. Thank you again for being tolerant of me; I hope I have given you a smile and I wish you all the very best.

Really pleased for you Janice, hope everything continues well for you.

Thanks for the story!

Well I had the biopsy (ouch, three stitches, that'll teach me to make a fuss, although I realise it is nothing compared to what real cancer sufferers go through).

I have been diagnosed with Lichen Planus. The side of my tongue is still sore as it was before but it is not debilitating enough to bother with the steroid mouthwash four times a day for a month that was offered. I will be seen again in a month to check I am still OK with that decision.

I still have two questions for Dr Vinod...

My understanding is that lichen planus is a skin condition that can manifest itself in the mouth.

Question 1. I have psoriasis, is there any connection?

Question 2. Some skin lesions on the inside of my thighs have appeared in the last six months which I don't think are psoriasis, could these be lichen planus?

I will book an appointment with my GP to ask the same questions. I just wondered if you had any view or any research.

Once again to everyone, many thanks for your responses. I have great respect for how you are coping. Cookey replied to my original post so I want to send her my best wishes via this post as well.

Hi Janice

Good news in one respect then. Now you have to deal with solving the Lichen Planus!

Sounds like something that grows on the moors - more reasons to be scared of Yorkshire

Anyway, I hope that it clears up quickly for you.

Good luck - Pete

Hi Janice,
This is my first posting, although I've been reading the message board for some time now. I am English but have lived in Germany since 1969, when I married a German, got a teaching job and brought up a family here. I suffered from the same symptoms as you describe, the sore place on the tongue started in 2001, came and went, came and went. Lichen planus was also the result of a biopsy in 2003, after which the spot disappeared completely. A year later it was back with a vengeance, the next biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma in 2004. I had a partial glossectomy, a modified neck dissection and no further treatment. I'm just coming up to my third "birthday" (actually, I'm 60). I don't want to alarm you, but I was told by the doctors that lichen planus often turns into cancer, so please keep a good check on your tongue and mouth and go for another biopsy immediately if anything seems worse than usual. I found it a very painful disease, luckily there has been no recurrence since the cancer op, even if my mouth is still very sensitive.
Best wishes to all of you out there who are fighting the disease. You're all great people.
Patricia