One early morning in May, Tracey M. decided that he wasn’t going to continue dipping snuff anymore!
He was sick and tired of waking up every morning with a raw and tender mouth, and his gums had begun to bleed every time he brushed his teeth!
By god, he just didn’t need this anymore! Just as soon as he was finished with the pressures of this rodeo, he was going to throw away his can of snuff—forever!
“Tonight’s the big night!” he thought to himself, as he felt a rush of adrenalin shoot into his bloodstream.
“I’m goin’ to ride that ol’ bull all the way for the full count!” he mused excitedly while washing his face in the bathroom sink of his motel room in Mesquite, Texas.
While Tracey brushed his teeth, he noticed that his tongue seemed to feel a little more sore than it did last week.
It had been getting a little more sore each day for about 6 weeks now!
“Guess I’d better get it checked out when I get back home tomorrow,” he decided while pulling on his boots.
After Tracey’s event that night, someone shouted, “Hey, Tracey! Nice ride, partner! Second place money is still pretty good, ain’t it?”
Tracey grinned and waved his hat towards the crowd. His friend, Dusty, waited by the gates for him.
“Hey, Trace,” he grinned as Tracey came up beside him, “Nice ride, bro!”
“Thanks,” Tracey grinned. “Let’s load up them ol’ horses, hit the road, an’ head the ol’ truck for home, Dusty!”
“All right!” Dusty readily agreed, while slapping Tracey on the back.
Tracey and Dusty stopped at a cafe around 11:00 o”clock that night for a bite of supper .
Tracey told Dusty, “Order me a burger and fries while I use that bathroom over there and get rid of this chew.”
When he returned to the table, their order was ready. They ate in amiable silence.
After their meal, they gassed up the truck and headed down that long ol’ highway toward home!
Dr. Thomas frowned apprehensively as he looked at the angry red sore with an ugly, white core on the tongue of Tracey M.
“Tracey, I don’t like the looks of this thing,” he said as he slowly shook his head.
“We need to get a biopsy on this as soon as possible and get it up to the lab in Lubbock.”
Tracey felt a weakness start in his legs as he looked at the doctor’s forlorn expression!
“I-Is it a cancer, Doc?” he asked in a shaky voice barely above a whisper.