In June 2015, I was visiting my parents when I came down with a sore throat and found a flesh-colored lump on the right side of my tongue.

I cut my trip short to get home to a dentist. He said it was just an inflamed taste bud. While I didn’t necessarily think that was the case, I trusted that my lump wasn’t a major concern.

But around December, I began having horrible shooting pains across the right side of my face. The...