"Hi, I have Ameloblastoma. How are you?"

“Hi! How are you?”


It’s a simple question. Most people under normal circumstances would answer, “Fine, thank you very much. And you?” Naturally you would expect a response as, “fine, good, not bad.” A few simple words. Does not really mean much. I would often answer in the positive when I was in quiet an irritable mood. After all it is the polite thing to say.


But no more. I have not said I was fine since Tuesday, October the 2nd. 3:14 PM if I remember the time right. Not since I heard the words benign Ameloblastoma Tumor. Amelo what? Tumor? I have what? Ameloblastoma. I believe he said Ameloblastoma. “Sorry Doctor can you spell this for me? I need to put this all in my blog."




Naturally I rushed home from work. “He said benign. He said benign. That’s good. Not cancer.” I kept saying that to myself all the way home. When I finally got on the internet the first listing that popped up was good old Wikipedia. Figures. They describe it as a rare (lucky me) benign tumor that develops in the mandible. Yes, the doctor told me this much. I did not want to ask him too many questions while I had him on the phone as my head was going to explode just from hearing the words tumor. I had a consultation with him scheduled in a few days.



But how does this happen? Did I not brush my teeth enough? Is this a gum disease that the dentist never mentioned? Upon reading what I could find on the internet I got scared. Deep breath. Just wait till you see that doctor. He will answer all your questions... Or maybe not.