I was wondering if any one could help me,yes i am a smoker but i have had a lump in my mouth for a while but it is now worring me,some times it causes pain and sometimes nothing,i went to the doctors today and he wernt interested.
any one got anyy adviseeee....???....

Hello Stacey
Welcome.
I have two pieces of advice 1: Be sure the last cigarette you smoked was your last and, 2: go see a doctor who is prepared to address your concerns and don't leave until you're satisfied that any query or worry you have has been sorted out or explained.
If you don't get off the fags then if you have no need for worry now, you're leaving yourself wide open for a visit from the BIG C at some point in the future.
Do yourself a favour.
All the best
Deborah

Hi Stacey

Please please please take Deborah's advice--especially about smoking. I can't think of a single benefit from the habit.

If this doctor can't or won't take care of you, do not give up. Go to as many doctors as necessary until you get an answer. Ask that doctor for a referral to an ENT or oral surgeon. Pain is Nature's way of telling us that something's wrong.

Please let us know how this turns out for you.

Julia

The truth here is that I had a similar concern back in 2003 and my GP showed little or no interest in the painful lump that had appeared at the base of my tongue ( which I now know to be a sign of Squamas cell carcinoma ), and so would a doctor you would think......not!

Over the following weeks, and and with the whole side of my face now aching and the appearance of two small lumps on my neck, my fears were still dismissed. My clever old lady GP told me off like a naughty schoolboy and gave me sudafed for an "Inner ear infection".

Needless to say.....it all became too much to bear in the end so I took myself to the ENT dept at Wexham Park Hospital and saw an oncologist there who sensed that all was not well within seconds. One biopsy later diagnosed Sqyumous cell carcinoma and the treatment programme was set up almost immediately. Eight months of hell followed, but I scraped through it all in the end.

The message here is simple. If you really feel that something isn't right then forget your local doctor surgery and waiting for referal's. Insist on getting a proffesional opinion. It could be a vital decision in the long run.

As a trustee with the Community Cancer Centre, the topic of GP's is bought up all the time and their incompetence in mis-diagnosing potentially life threatening diseases or medical conditions. Some GP's feel that they need to do little more than scribble out prescriptions and concentrate on their five minute turnaround to get you out the door as soon as possible. You can almost be made to feel like a hypocondriac by voicing your concerns. While we appreciate that doctors may have ever growing patient lists and time is a valuble commodity, there is no room for complacency where the possibility of Cancer is concerned.

I hope that what you have amounts to nothing, but make sure that you are sure that it is nothing serious.

Keep us posted

Steve

Stacey,

I went to my GP in October, 2007, because of a persistent sore throat; nothing painful, simply annoying. He said it was 'something viral' that antibiotics wouldn't help and sent me home with recommendations for over-the-counter meds. Went back a few weeks later with the same complaint and was given the proverbial pat on the head and sent my way with the 'something viral' meme.

When my ear started hurting in January, I went back again and fortunately he was on vacation. The nurse practitioner immediately saw there was something other than a virus and set me up with an ENT. Within days I had the appointment that included a biopsy, a diagnosis (tonsil cancer) and was set up with a radiation oncologist.

We've been living with these bodies for a very long time compared to the five minutes they spend with us. Trust your gut feeling and continue to pursue an answer! If you're wrong, so much the better.

Push for whatever the next step is (I'm not too familiar with your system but know that it works however it's approached and initiated).

Best of luck to you Stacey. Not knowing is very scary. I hope everything is negative but that you're scared to the extent that you finally quit smoking.

Mimi

quote:

i have had a lump in my mouth for a while but it is now worring me,some times it causes pain and sometimes nothing,i went to the doctors today and he wernt interested.
any one got anyy adviseeee....???....

Hi Stacey

You could see your dentist or tell your doctor that you are concerned that you might have a mouth cancer (he will then start paying more attention) and wish a second opinion throgh a referral to the local oral & maxillofacial surgery unit.

Best wishes

Vinod