Oral Cancer- So, I saw a young patient the other day as a referral from a General Dentist, with swelling around a tooth on the lower jaw. What was unusual about this swelling was that this tooth had swelling around the front and the area near the tongue. It also did not go down after debridement of the soft tissue that the general dentist performed a few days before. The swelling persisted and got slightly bigger. I took a sample of the tissue and realized that the tissue did not bleed on the inside of the epithelial layer. The area was a whitish tissue with areas that seemed abnormal. The answer came back from pathology: Squamous Cell Carcinoma- a malignant oral cancer that was invasive.
This patient was a young 21 year old female. She had no significant medical history.
This news was devastating to me.
I had to break this news to her and her family.
I quickly called the physician referral line at Memorial Sloan Kettering to get her an appointment with the Head and Neck Surgery Department. They asked for her primary medical insurance: "She doesn't have Primary Medical Insurance."
This was even more devastating.... I didn't know what she was going to do. I knew this treatment will cost an amount that could bankrupt her and her family. Pre-existing condition= she will never have insurance that will cover this.
She will see the docs tomorrow so I will get an update- My prayers and hopes are with my patient.
