Page 112 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2020

HEALTHY LIVING
OPEN WIDE
and look inside
Free Oral Cancer Screenings at Beach View Family Dental April 17
story by Catherine Heth, MPH and Dr. Karen Crews
Did you know that April is national oral, head and neck cancer awareness month?
Unfortunately, in 2020 this cancer will take the life of one person per hour. These cancers start in the tissues of the head and neck and can stem from the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, thyroid gland, salivary glands, throat, or voice box. Risk factors include the use of tobacco and alcohol, as well as human
papillomavirus (HPV). Regular checkups can detect the early stages of oral, head and neck cancer or the conditions that may lead to it.
Beach View Family Dental will offer free oral, head and neck screenings on April 17 from 8 to noon. We urge you and your family and friends to take advantage
of this free screening event. It is important to get screened at events like this one to detect any potential
abnormalities that could be related to one of these cancers. Screenings are painless and take less than ten minutes to perform. Call today to make an appointment!
9072 Lorraine Road, Gulfport, MS 228.896.1840 www.beachviewdental.com
“I came down with the flu Christmas of 2014. After I recovered, I noticed I still had a persistent sore throat, which progressed to the point that I was on
a fast food milkshake diet because it was too painful to swallow anything else. I finally went to my ENT who took a biopsy and confirmed it was oral cancer.
My cancer journey has gone through many phases, including a feeding tube, proton therapy and cryotherapy. I didn’t know back then that dentists performed oral screenings at the time, but for anyone considering getting screened, do it for your family, your loved ones, and yourself.”
Why Get Screened?
“I heard about Dr. Crews’ free oral cancer screenings through an ad in the paper. God meant for me to see that ad – she found a concerning spot on my tongue and made me an appointment with an oral surgeon the very next day.
I was diagnosed with oral
cancer and have had a series of reconstructive surgeries using
bone and muscle from my left leg to replace my right jaw and other parts of my mouth and tongue. There’s no doubt that this screening saved my life.”
“I was rst diagnosed with tongue cancer eight years ago when I noticed a sore on my tongue that would not heal. Because I was able to catch the cancer
in its early stages, the treatment was simply excising the cancerous tissue and grafting skin over it. Unfortunately it returned two years ago.
I self diagnosed it when I noticed a hard, swollen lymph node. Treatment this time required radiation and chemotherapy. Unfortunately I was unable to detect the tumor that grew on the back of my tongue.
I cannot emphasize enough that getting screened for oral cancer on a regular basis will only improve your chances of detecting cancer if it is there.”
Dr. Michael Malloy, Gulfport
112 | April 2020
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Buddy Moore, Biloxi
Je’Nell Blocher, Ocean Springs