Cancerwise

In early 2022, Phil Sprick noticed a lump behind his cheekbone while shaving. He visited his ear, nose and throat doctor a few weeks later and eventually had surgery to remove what was believed to be a benign tumor in his right parotid gland.

“After the surgery, I was declaring victory,” recalls Phil, who was 65 at the time. “But two weeks later, I got a call from the doctor saying the biopsy results came back positive for cancer...

Keith Taggart noticed a lump the size of a pea in his left cheek in October 2014. He was also experiencing fatigue, weight loss, nausea and incontinence. His primary care physician wasn’t too concerned about the lump but referred him to an oral surgeon to have it removed and biopsied.

Keith was diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma of the salivary gland 10 days later. But he wasn’t especially worried. “I believed that any future...