Possible throat cancer.

drew94

First of all I wanted to say that for all of you here who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease, my thoughts and my prayers are with you and never give up. Keep fighting.

As for me ive stumbled upon this forum because I have a few questions and concerns. I’m a 28 year old male, obese. Never smoker never drinker however I do deal with acid reflux.

in late October I started to notice that I had what felt like a lump or something swollen in my throat On the right side. It was very uncomfortable and I dealt with it constantly for weeks however that was my only symptom. Eventually it started to go away. Flash forward to December 22 right before Christmas, the sensation comes back and this time it’s persistent for weeks. I developed an intermittent sore throat on both sides last week along with a high pitched cough that comes and goes throughout the day. If I look in the back of my throat I can see white spots but not on my tonsils but on the back of my throat.

I called the ent and made an appointment but the earliest date they could get me in was February 7.

I don’t have trouble swallowing or pain with swallowing, I don’t have a hoarse voice and I can’t notice any neck masses.

im scared to death of this disease. Especially give the fact that many people get a dx when it’s already at stage 4.

wbcgaruss

Drew, welcome to the CSN H&N forum. You have already done what I would have told you to do get to an ENT as soon as possible. You are doing the right thing. An ENT is all things Head and Neck and they will be able to check you over. He may see something obvious or not but if he suspects anything you will be sent for a CT scan with contrast of the head and neck area and that will show if anything is amiss. Wishing You the Best am going to copy and past some info below. You may also want to check out the Superthread at the top of the page in the Head and Neck forum.

Wishing You the Best

Take Care God Bless-Russ

This is very important!

Anytime you go to any meetings during this situation

of a possible problem and possible cancer with your Doctor, ENT, Radiation

Doctor, Chemo Doctor, Etc. always take a notebook or note pad and if

possible absolutely take along another person. Two sets of ears are

better than one and you may be given a lot of information. A lot can

be thrown at you, new terms you never heard before and just too much info to

process in your meeting so have a friend along. Also ask if you can audio or video

record your meeting with any doctor you see so you can play it back for anything

you missed.

So You Think you Have Cancer or Have Something

Suspect Going On in the Head and Neck Area.

Important:

➔Many have feared that the soreness or unusual feeling in their Head

& neck Area is cancer and assumed they are going to die. Even if

the unusual feeling area is cancer, with modern cancer treatment

this is very unlikely and successful treatment is getting better every

year.

➔The best way to approach this is with an open mind and calmness

and seek the help of a medical professional like an ENT for

instance.

➔Many people have worried themselves sick only to find they have

no cancer, their problem was caused by something else

➔It’s not cancer till they say it’s cancer verified with scans and a

biopsy.

➔This is a step by step process to check, identify, and treat cancer.

➔Whatever your problem is your medical team will get you through

this.

➔Many people are upset, worried, and fearful but the best examples

of the way to handle this has shown to be stay calm and contact a

medical professional such as you family doctor or an ENT and get

in and get evaluated as soon as possible.

➔Cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was but this idea

persists.

➔Also please remember if you have to enter into a cancer treatment

regimen it is not a quick process and in fact usually spans over a

number of weeks. But be patient and do your treatments because

your medical team has put together a treatment regimen tailored to

your cancer and type and location. With advanced treatments we

have today the possibility of success of the eradication of a persons

cancer has a very good success rate.

SmittyFromCuse

Drew I’m hoping for the best for you. Everything Russ said is important, especially that cancer is now curable. My initial symptoms then diagnosis through completing surgeries took about 5 months. My surgeon said I still have 90% or better chance of cure. Everyone is different and things can change quickly but a positive attitude really does make a difference. It’s not just a saying it’s the biggest part you can control. I’m not happy at all I have to deal with this but very positive that it can and will be taken care of. God bless.

dabard

I'm a throat cancer survivor. The above advice is spot on. Don't borrow trouble just yet. Prayers!