In his high-stakes profession as a security executive, Rich Mason has never been a stranger to resilience. However, at the age of 50, the concept of resilience suddenly became very personal after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of tongue cancer.
While swimming at Virginia Beach during the July 4 holiday in 2023, Mason noticed a sore on his tongue. Chalking it up to his stressful job and frequent occurrence of ulcers, he did not think much of it at first. When it did not go away, he took action and made an appointment with his dentist for evaluation.
The dentist referred Mason to his primary care provider, Family Nurse Practitioner Megan Vocu at Riverside Hayes Medical Center, who then referred him to Camil Correia, M.D., with Riverside Ear, Nose and Throat Physicians and Surgeons in Newport News.
That fall, a biopsy, followed by a series of PET and CT scans, led to the diagnosis of a rare and aggressive stage-three tongue cancer.
Correia, an award-winning, fellowship-trained he...