Hi Guys!

I hope someone here can help me. Around 8 weeks ago, I felt a lump under the skin on the floor of my mouth. It's on the far left hand side, where the gland is. I can't feel it with my finger, only my tongue. It was a small round lump, but seems to have changed and is now long and thin. (I know it sounds odd) I did not have this before, and I don't have it on the other side. My mouth started burning a few days ago, and so I went to my GP. He shone a light in, but didn't physically examine it. Said I had an infected spot and gave me antibiotics as I also had a chest infection. I wasn't happy with that and so went a couple of day's ago to see my dentist. He looked at it carefully and felt with his finger. Couldn't feel or see a thing. No lesions or sores. Couldn't feel or see a lump under the skin. Asked me where exactly it was and I touched it with my tongue and showed him. Said that I couldn't really feel it as a lump with my finger, more of a hardness, much like the other side. He looked again and said as far as he could see there was nothing there. He did say to go back in three weeks if I could still feel it.

Three weeks is a long time to worry about something and I've gotten myself into a state. Why can't he feel it, but I can? I've done what I guess a lot of people do and looked symptoms up on the net. The only thing I can see is cancer of that gland. He did ask if it felt like a lump or lot's of little hard lumps. I said one lump. I think he was thinking of stones. I can't think of one innocent explanation for it. I'm 44 years old and I smoke. My mouth is not in the best condition and over the years I've suffered from numerous abscesses etc. I do have a little hard lump right up under the jawline on the opposite side, but not on the same side. I would have really freaked out about that as I guess the only thing that could be is the lymph node, but I calmed myself down, as I have been on antibiotics for a chest infection and am still recovering from a very nasty head cold etc. The lump hasn't gone though. You really have to push your finger right up under the jaw to even feel it and hopefully anyway it's connected to my chest infection etc.

Please, please can someone advise me. I have a good dentist and he didn't seem to have any explanation for why I could feel a lump and he couldn't. I feel the difference even when my mouth is closed. Also, when I look myself, admittedly not in such good lighting as the dentists chair, I can see a whitedot under the skin. Not a lesion, more where maybe the skin is being pulled due to the lump and showing the whiteness underneath. Sometimes the left hand side of my neck aches or that side of the floor of my mouth, but I can't feel any lumps on that side of my neck.

Would a dentist know or at least send me to someone if there was even the slightest possibility of something sinister?

Many apologies for the rambling, but I'm terrified!!

Hi Suzanna. I was in the same position as you last year and god I was terrified! You know what is more scary than owt, YOUR IMAGINATION!
Tell your dentist or doctor how worried you are and get them to take you seriously. The more you wonder what it is the worse it gets in your head til you are certain theres no hope. People on this site gave me loads of support and just talking helped. I felt great when I found that I didn't have cancer and I hope thats what you are gonna find out aswell. I like to think that if things had gone the other way I would be as positive as those who have cancer. So go for it. Sit in waiting rooms til they see you and good luck. I will be sending good vibes out to you........

Biker

Thanks for your support. I will press them on it.

Suz

Hello Suzanna, I am in total agreement with Biker. If you cannot get your DENTIST to get serious about this, however you should be able to---YOU ARE PAYING HIM---RIGHT?? Then make him work for you. You may call a ENT next. They deal with the glands and what have you. It really upsets me when a person knows that there is something wrong and a DOCTOR doesn't listen to them...I always say this, " This is my body and I know when something is wrong with it..SO you go back to your DENTIST and you demand that he or she listen to you and that you want him to examine you until he sees or feels whatever it is that you are feeling. Another reason this upsets me so,,,a Dentist is the NUMBER 1 person that SHOULD notice these things. If we could only get them to be more cautious with this perhaps the treatments would not have to be so long and horrible. The earlier the better. I wish you the very best and I am praying that this is nothing that a pill cannot fix..Please let us know what is going on with this,,,Ok. Thank you,,,,always Vicki Lynn

Thanks. I'll phone them again today. Is it possible to have lumps down there under the skin that are not cancer?

Hi Suzanna, I saw my dentist at the end of July end of August had a sore throat in Oct, having seen seven medical men, having waited four hours in A&E when Doc no 7 saw me he wanted me in the scanner with 20 minutes, SO PLEASE INSIST on finding out, and be very firm. I would go to a good hospital, mine was Charing Cross in London; I was told by six Doc's mine was an abscess. Best of Luck

Be PERSISTANT! I complained for almost a year, and believed what I was told every time. By the time they did a biopsy, my cancer was so far advanced that I was told there was nothing they could do to save me. Again I persisted, went to a different city, clinic, and team of doctors, and here I am a year and a half later, still here, and I am told they killed the cancer. Only the future will show if it is gone for good, but if I hadn't stuck to it, I WOULDN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW. These doctors technically know our bodies better than we do, but they aren't feeling what we feel, and so they are wrong sometimes.

Well Suzanna, I do hope you've had a biopsy by now. That's how I learned I had cancer. Of course it does not have to be that, but at least you'll be sure. Jola