One December morning, Joan was working at the kitchen table and realized that my face looked funny. Well, yeah, that’s a given.
The right side of my face drooped. It looked like a hounds drooping flesh. Since I haven’t been to a dentist for a few (hundred) years, her immediate concern was some kind of tooth infection type thing. I finally told her that I think that we have something more serious then that. I explained and she examined this thing growing in my mouth.
She vigourously looked for a nearby dentist who would take me immediately. See, we live in a small local-tourist community here in North Carolina where the winter population is 1400-1700 or so. And, we live a distance from any sizeable city. And, we live in the wood adjacent to the protected wetlands. Fortunately, we hooked up with a dentist just up the road on the main drag on route 24. Joan was home from work to go to her medical appointment in Wilmington, which is a 2 hour drive for us, and here we end up with my going to an appointment instead. God, this stuck with me for months to come.
The folk at the dentist were really, really nice! The dentist examined my loose tooth and lesion, took an xray, and had his assistant take a peak, too. They didn’t want to touch anything and referred me to an oral surgeon who worked in a town up the way by 30-40 minutes.
This next day, my face wasn’t drooping anymore (mystery face). We drove to the oral surgeon’s office and didn’t have to wait very long. They took a panorama xray. Upon examination, the dentist showed me the differences in the left and right sides of my face. He tagged it as T4 squamous cell carcinoma, a term with which I was familiar in surfing the Internet. It started in my right sinus and broke through the upper palate and jaw bone on my right side. Hence, why it is called a T4 and why I was losing my teeth.
He said that he doesn’t do this kind of surgery and referred me to yet another surgeon in yet another town 30-40 minutes away. He said that it isn’t going to go away. My immediate concern was whether this surgeon was a medical guy or a dentist because I don’t have dental insurance. Fortunately, he was a medical surgeon and Dr. Vincent told me that he’d place my visit on BCBS too. (I later got a bill because apparently, BCBS didn’t accept the diagnosis visit as a medical visit.)
I’m not sure if I was in shock or if I already knew in my mind that it was T4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma or what. But I really didn’t hear the impact of it until Dr. Vincent said God Bless to me. I felt like I was being read my last rites. It’s harder when someone else says it for the first time.
I met up with my wife in the lobby and we walked out the door at which point I told her, “It doesn’t look good, babe” and I broke into tears. We sat in the car for me to regain my composure whilst Joan assured me that we’d pursue it and the surgeon would take care of it. To this day, the picture of this visit roles in my mind like a bad movie from beginning to end.
December 2006 – It’s harder when someone says it for the first time
One December morning, Joan was working at the kitchen table and realized that my face looked funny. Well, yeah, that’s a given.
The right side of my face drooped. It looked like a hounds drooping flesh. Since I haven’t been to a dentist for a few (hundred) years, her immediate concern was some kind of tooth infection type thing. I finally told her that I think that we have something more serious then that. I explained and she examined this thing growing in my mouth.
She vigourously looked for a nearby dentist who would take me immediately. See, we live in a small local-tourist community here in North Carolina where the winter population is 1400-1700 or so. And, we live a distance from any sizeable city. And, we live in the wood adjacent to the protected wetlands. Fortunately, we hooked up with a dentist just up the road on the main drag on route 24. Joan was home from work to go to her medical appointment in Wilmington, which is a 2 hour drive for us, and here we end up with my going to an appointment instead. God, this stuck with me for months to come.
The folk at the dentist were really, really nice! The dentist examined my loose tooth and lesion, took an xray, and had his assistant take a peak, too. They didn’t want to touch anything and referred me to an oral surgeon who worked in a town up the way by 30-40 minutes.
This next day, my face wasn’t drooping anymore (mystery face). We drove to the oral surgeon’s office and didn’t have to wait very long. They took a panorama xray. Upon examination, the dentist showed me the differences in the left and right sides of my face. He tagged it as T4 squamous cell carcinoma, a term with which I was familiar in surfing the Internet. It started in my right sinus and broke through the upper palate and jaw bone on my right side. Hence, why it is called a T4 and why I was losing my teeth.
He said that he doesn’t do this kind of surgery and referred me to yet another surgeon in yet another town 30-40 minutes away. He said that it isn’t going to go away. My immediate concern was whether this surgeon was a medical guy or a dentist because I don’t have dental insurance. Fortunately, he was a medical surgeon and Dr. Vincent told me that he’d place my visit on BCBS too. (I later got a bill because apparently, BCBS didn’t accept the diagnosis visit as a medical visit.)
I’m not sure if I was in shock or if I already knew in my mind that it was T4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma or what. But I really didn’t hear the impact of it until Dr. Vincent said to me. I felt like I was being read my last rites. It’s harder when someone else says it for the first time.
I met up with my wife in the lobby and we walked out the door at which point I told her, “It doesn’t look good, babe” and I broke into tears. We sat in the car for me to regain my composure whilst Joan assured me that we’d pursue it and the surgeon would take care of it. To this day, the picture of this visit roles in my mind like a bad movie from beginning to end.
The drive back home was long and quiet.