Last Medical Update Until After Our Vacation

I decided to do this one last medical update before we left for our cruise. I would like to be able to sweep all of this under the rug or shove it into a dark remote spot in a closet for a while so that Veronica and I can enjoy the build up to our cruise and and the vacation itself, without having this dark cloud always hanging around spoiling every moment we have.
So after this blog entry there will be no more talk about or thoughts about mouth sores and the "C"
word...at least until the end of October.
Actually my tongue has been feeling somewhat better. Not as much pain and on some days it actually looks better but by looking at the photos...damn if it looks any better. I guess "some days" were the operative words.
I can almost bet the farm that all of this stuff will still be waiting for me when I return from our vacation. But from this moment until I get back home...I am 35 years old again....healthy as an ox and as handsome and studly (according to Veronica) as George Clooney.....yeah I can hear you now.....damn that must be some really good shit he's got himself into!!!...and then there is the fact that Veronicas' sight is not what it used to be either.
Well...... what did you expect....re-runs of old road runner cartoons...beeep beeep!!

The following photos were taken on 10/7/2013. You will notice a new development on the top of my tongue that just developed yesterday

How Many Times Have You Told Yourself....This Only Happens To Other People

C'mon...let's not bullshit each other. If you are like me you have probably thought it plenty of times...maybe not said it aloud but thought it to yourself before moving on to something much more important like your favorite football team playing in HD on television in 5 minutes.
Yeah I know that scenario all to well..but guess what....it can and did happen to me. In the snap of the fingers or the blink of an eye...I swallowed and my tongue hurt. And that my friends was the beginning. It came without an invite and stayed way beyond last call.
If it can happen to me...it can happen to you.  Approximately 42,000 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2013.
I have decided to write in detail about this next journey. It will be on how I am doing and feeling as I walk into the ring and do battle against oral cancer. My story starts off a little different to begin with just for the fact that I have Mast Cell Disease in my bone marrow which causes me to have a compromised immune system to begin with.
I should make it very clear that I have not been officially diagnosed with oral cancer as of yet but based on my lengthy history of smoking...32 plus years...smoke free for approx 7-8  years and medical history leukoplakia, myoplasia and 2 tongue biopsies along with what is currently going on in my mouth, on my tongue and throat...I am getting real close to obtaining that official diagnosis.
The Oncologist that I see for my Mast Cell Disease has referred me to one of the best ENTs that has experience with oral cancer patients. My first appointment with this specialist is on November 5th.
I do not plan on conforming to strictly mainstream medicine to cure me and I have already started utilizing "alternative medicines".
For anyone that has any type of disease whether it be cancer to seizures, arthritis to diabetes, it is in your best interest to look into some of the alternative medicines that are out there.  For those who are interested, do a Google search for High Level CBDs, Cannabinoids and Cannabidiol. I also watched several documentaries on television about Medical Marijuana, Hemp/Hemp Oil Products, High Level CBD products. It was/is truly amazing  what these products appear to be able to do on a medicinal/healing level
I started taking the following item in hopes that it would help my current medical situation out... CanChewGum
I have been using the gum for a week and started using before most people probably would but I wanted to get a good jump on beating this thing.
What I have noticed is that whatever is going on in my mouth and on my tongue, it is happening rather quickly. One day something isn't there and the next day it is and the next day it looks completely different.
Veronica and I are beginning to wonder if the CBDs in the gum are forcing the bad stuff on/in my tongue to the surface thus making it look real bad overnight and then it subsides a bit the next day. Like I said....everything looks and changes very quickly.
Now how has all of this had on my mental and emotional state...well...this all came upon me really rather quickly. There are times that I find myself very sad, angry, depressed and then at other times it is just another day at the office . So my feelings are all over the place.
And then on the other side of the coin, I am still working on the finishing touches for our upcoming cruise.
So I guess what they say is true...life does go on.
I will post some internal mouth and tongue photos later.

Not Just Another Day At The Doctors Office

Today Veronica and I drove to Virginia Beach to see my Oncologist. I wasn't supposed to see him until December but because of all of the mouth issues that I had been and are currently having, we decided that it would be best to talk to him and get his professional thoughts and opinions about what is going on.
After going over the recent medical history involving my mouth issues and then taking a look into my mouth, my doctor stated that what was going on had nothing to do with my Mast Cell Disease.
In my words not his....my mouth is basically a pre-cancerous petri dish basically waiting its time to turn into a full blown case of cancer.
My doctor told me about a couple of things that I could do that might keep the BIG C at bay for a while. He mentioned something about freeze drying dark berries and rubbing them as a paste around my mouth...basically using berries as an antioxidant.
I did not tell my doctor that I had already done a little research on my own and was looking into possibly utilizing some "alternative medicines",
My Oncologist suggested that I go to a Eye, Nose and Throat doctor that has had  plenty of background, hands on and surgical experience dealing with patients that have Oral Cancer. He referred me to one of the top ENT cancer doctors in the area. I was lucky enough to get an appointment with this doctor shortly after Veronica and I return from our upcoming Med cruise.
Until then I will have to deal with the pain that I have in the right side of my mouth, tongue and ear. Hopefully it will subside a bit until we get back from our cruise.

I Must Be Stuck On Some Type Of Perpetual Re-Run Play Cycle

Things occur frequently enough that I lose track of time, so please forgive me if my accuracy is off a bit. About 3-4 weeks ago I developed some soreness in the right side of my tongue, ear and neck. This is the same side that I had originally had my very first biopsy and followup surgery on approximately 6-7 years ago when I first discovered that I had Leukoplakia on my tongue. Soon after the soreness started and after looking around in my mouth, we found what appeared to be some sort of cut further back on the right side of my tongue. The next day the pain had got worse and the sore now appeared to be looking almost like a boil with a white center. By this time I was gargling with salt water....not knowing what else to do. I immediately made an appointment with my ENT doctor and we went to see him the next day. When I went in to see the doctor, the sore was almost gone except for some redness but the pain was still present. I went out to the car and got my camera and showed the doctor what the sore had looked like the day before. He was very surprised and the huge difference between what he was seeing in the camera and what was in front of him at this time.
Because the sore appeared to be going away on its own, my doctor decided to give it a few days and then return to see if the sore and the pain had completely disappeared.
So after returning home I decided to continue gargling with the salt water and I also started using some hydrogen peroxide on the sore and surrounding area.
Over the next few days, I found that the sore came back to some extent and that I felt really wiped out by afternoon. I mean I was really dragging and was not really hungry or eating much. It was during this time frame that I had watched a couple of shows that we had taped that dealt with "alternative medicines". Besides dealing with my ongoing bouts of mouth issues that have already included two biopsies, I also have Mast Cell Disease in my Bone Marrow along with having to be careful on watching what I eat and my weight because Diabetes runs in my family. Of course there is the laundry list of other mundane issues that are a pain on a daily basis...arthritis, torn meniscus in my knee.....
I decided that I would give one of these legal alternative medicines a try to see of it would help my situation..... CanChewGum.
Yesterday I got my gum in and started to use that and I also returned to my ENT. My ENT used a scope device that he put up my nose in order to look down in the back of my tongue, throat and voice box. This procedure was not one that I was looking forward to at all. It turned out not to be as bad as I was expecting but not anything that I would stand in line to have done again. Nothing dramatic was seen through this scope device other than a little redness on the back side of my tongue.
The doctor decided that we would try to take care of the sore by using an antibiotic and if this did not work then another biopsy would be in order.
If we end up doing another biopsy it would be a rough one due to the location of the sore. It is further back on my tongue compared to the other last two biopsies.
I have to go back in about 10 days to see if the antibiotics worked or not. I am hoping that between the gum, gargling with salt water, hydrogen peroxide and the antibiotics that we can get rid of this sore.
This Thursday we go to see my Oncologist to get his thoughts about this sore and to see if my Mast Cell Disease has anything to do with all of these sores and mouth issues.
Keeping my fingers crossed that goods things will happen over the next 7-10 days.