Maria G. Lopez
6 hrs

Dear friends, I'm asking for your precious prayers. This is my story,,,
Three months ago I went for my regular cleaning at the dentist office ( I go every three months to keep my teeth healthy), when the dentist went to the room to check on the hygienist work he found a brownish dark spot on the palate, flat not bumpy just a spot. he didn't know what to say and asked me if I accidentally hurt my self while brushing and of course I said no. He then took several pictures of the spot and asked me to come back in 2 weeks to check on it, and hopefully by that time he was confident the spot will be gone. Went back and the spot was still there, he could't explain the source of it and I told him that the other purple-blueish spot on my left gum I showed to him a year ago was expanding, he then got worried and told me he was going to send the pictures to his friend who is an Oral Surgeon. I waited over a month because his friend was in Guatemala in a medical mission. On December 1st I finally went to see the oral surgeon and he performed right there a biopsy of the palate and I had a cone beam test. I was told to come back for results in 2 weeks but after week and a half I was told to come back because the Oral Pathologist asked for two more biopsies from different parts of the palate so he could have a more reliable diagnose . I went back for those biopsies and waited 2 more weeks for final results. Finally on December 29, 2015 at the oral surgeon office I found out that even with the 3 biopsies the surgeon and pathologist were puzzled but nevertheless he told me that they found mild Pre cancer Skin cells, inactive on the tissues, he told me that this findings of skin cancer in the mouth are very rare and that the pathologist suggested the biopsies to be sent to the
University of Utah which connects to Huntsman Cancer Center so they could use their own regular pathologist with more knowledge of Skin cancer. Because the pre cancer cells where mild and inactive I was to expect to get a call from the Hunstman Cancer Center in about 2 or3 moths. Well, on January 5, 2016 I got a call from the Oral Surgeon letting me know how difficult was for him to explain this over the phone but that he sent the biopsies to the University of Utah and their regular pathologist concluded new findings... I do have Skin cancer Melanoma in the mouth which is a very rare cancer that only 1 in 25 000 people gets it. The surgeon told me that the Huntsman Cancer Center will get me there as soon as possible because they will put me in an aggressive treatment because the Melanoma in situ cells are contained in those spots but at any

minute they can become dangerous and spread to other organs. They will run a full body scan and some other scan I can't remember the name to make sure it is indeed Not in my lungs, brain, liver, eyes or digestive system. I am devastated, sad and fearful of the journey ahead of me and not to be able to make it through it. I really, really want to live. I also have besides
SS, Fibromyalgia, neuropathy hands and feet, hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis, Raynauds, Osteoporosis, 2 herniated disks on the neck, neck spur, Gerd, hormone unbalance, hiatal hernia and erosion of the esoaphagus, mild RA, and chronic yeast infections due to SS so they are not very helpful to me at all.
I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart to keep me in your prayers so I can do well with the treatments and medications they will give me (I'm so prone to react to most medicines) and for Our Lord to guide and inspire all the medical team to help me with the right treatments so I can have a chance to live for many many more years on this earth.
Thank you all for your prayers and for listening to my pleads.
Maria.