GILBERT, AZ — For months, Valley resident Joe Rahm searched for answers to severe mouth pain.
"My wife and I consistently were seeing doctor after doctor trying to come up with answers, and it was not easy to get answers," Rahm said.
Three biopsies came back negative. Root canals and tooth extractions didn't stop the pain.
"Nobody really knew," Rahm said.
In July 2025, doctors finally found the cause: squamous cell carcinoma. By then, the cancer had already spread into his jawbone.
"You know, you always hear about other people getting cancer and you're kind of like, oh, thank God it wasn't me. But when it happens to you, it's a kick in the head, like, oh my God, this is real," Rahm said.
Rahm turned to Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert for help.
"Not only did Joe and his family have to grasp a cancer diagnosis, but also to grasp that it was not an early cancer diagnosis, that it was an advanced cancer," Dr. Thomas Shellenberger, MD Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, said.
"He had stage four cancer, so very advanced when he came to see us," Dr. Harrison Cash, Head and Neck Surgical Oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, said.
Surgeons operated for 12 hours, removing part of his jaw and tongue, then rebuilding his face using bone and skin from his leg. Radiation, chemotherapy and months of rehab followed, relearning how to walk, eat and drink.
"I will go through fire to get better. There's no way I'm missing out on life and there's no way I'm missing out on slowly growing up and my kids growing up," Rahm said.
Now, recovering and back to riding his bike, Rahm is sharing his story during Men's Health Month and National Cancer Survivors Month with a warning: don't ignore pain that won't go away, even if initial tests come back negative.
"Ask questions. No question's too stupid, because you need to find out because you know what, it may be too late. If I would have found out a little earlier, maybe I wouldn't have got into my jaw," Rahm said.
