In a nutshell, at this point:

About 2 -3 years ago I noticed a tine bump in my hard palate - not painful, etc... unfortunately, I wasn't too concerned then... in the past 2 months it has grown quickly to be a 2 cm "bulge" in my hard palate - no ulceration or pain, but once I noticed it had grown like that I of course pointed it out to my MD - about 1 1/2 months later, still no diagnosis! The wait is excruciating.

In a nutshell:

I have had two biopsies, the last one under general anesthesia... path reports have come back inconclusive both times - basically they are seeing scar tissue and some kind of new cell growth - but that alone is odd. A CT Scan prior to the biopsies showed a tumor in my maxillary sinus with bone erosion, and the Radioligists determination was "an agressive tumor with malignant properties"... the biopsies were taken from my hard palate (ouch!)...

It's believed now that the hard palate "tumor" is probably a recent manifestation of a tumor that has been growing in my sinus - basically just a "bulge" due to expansion, hence, the biopsy there wasn't really a biopsy of the actual tumor. Sigh. I had an appt with an ENT specialist tomorrow, but their office called to say that after reviewing the reports they didn't feel they could help me, but had already lined up an appt for a different ent specialist - fortunately he will see me tomorrow - And if he can't help they said they will refer me to the SW Medical Center in Dalas. Sounds ominous to me...

Likely I will have to have surgery to get a biopsy from inside my sinus... as you can imagine, I am really looking forward to that! (Actually, I am, just not the discomfort - I want to do something about this, but first we have to find out what exactly "this" is... ) -

All of the possibilities that have been mentioned are very rare cancers, but of course, there are benign tumors as well, just as rare. I'd much rather have won the lottery!

Since the last biopsy a week ago I have had a great deal of pain - especially when I talk - so we are all getting pretty good at sign language and notepad shorthand... Prior to biopsies I had no pain at all...

I just want a disgnosis so that I can focus on doing what ever I need to do and plan around work, family, etc...

How does one deal with this horrible waiting??

(Thanks for letting me vent)

Hello denmart

It is a difficult time - not knowing and feeling that things aren't moving quickly enough to sort out the problem whatever.

Your ENT surgeon will need a biopsy of the tumour in the sinus that has manifested itself to you through the swelling in the palate, CT/MRI scans to visualise its extent and then decide, with radiation and medical oncologists, on the line of treatment acccording to the diagnosis made. Let us hope it is a benign tumour and treatment is successful. I know several long term survivors, so keep positive throughout. Let us know how you get on, we are here to help where we can.

Best wishes
Vinod

Thank you so much for the time you have taken to reply t o my post... It is only 4 hours until my Dr's appt - I am glad about that, anyway...

I love th quote on the bottom of your reply - beautiful.

Denise,
Mesquite (Dallas), Texas

Also - the one who performed the biopsies was a general ENT, one who for various reasons I am glad not to have to see anymore - but is it common to do a biopsy, much less two, on the hard palate when CT reports indicate a maxillary sinus tumor??

The above mentioned Doctor actually told me that I could just "wait and see - do nothing", once the paths came back inconclusive or investigate for myself... I thought that was awful advice. He told me it would be "very unusual" to have a malignancy in my sinus...

I immediately asked for copies of all reports, etc, and after reading that all reports advised further investigation because "tissue samples likely were not representative of mass lesion" arranged for appointments with the other doctors myself, and they were immediately concerned by the reports...

I now have a notebook that I keep all of my records in, etc... Do remind the wonderful people here, the newcomers, that if a Doctor doesn't seem right, to find another -