This is rubbish. Oral cancer worry is driving me mad.

[HannahA]

Hi There,

I've been doing so well, along woth CBT and citopoplam my anxiety has been kept nicely at bay.

Unluckily for me it has raised it's ugly head for the past 2 weeks. I noticed a bump towards the back of my hard palate around an inch from my back teeth. it feels hard and is around 20mm, I have a slightly smaller one on the other side in the same location . I have proded and picked at the larger one (gross I know) so much that I ulcerated it. My dentist had a glance and said that if it doesnt go by next week she'll refer me to someone...

I can still feel both lumps very clearly and am not sure if it's always been there or is a recent thing.

My ask isn't technically reassurance (although i'd be very interested to hear whether or not anyone else has experienced it) it's more to ask people out there with HA how they cope when they find lumps and bumps...I seem to do well when I have no symptoms but as soon as I find anything my mind goes into over drive.

I'm gutted as the meds seemed to be working so well (10mg)

I just feel like I'm back to sqaure 1 :weep:

[roxy90]

I dont think we cope at all when we find lumps/bumps/signs etc thats why we're on here hah!

There is a wonderful forum member on here (fishmanpa) who is an oral cancer survivor so i'm sure he will be a able to put you at ease.

[HoneyLove]

Hannah this would be a good one to bring up in your CBT sessions! Have you any techniques that you could apply to this particular worry yet? Maybe in your next session you could talk to the therapist about this fear in particular.

Our bodies are full of lumps & bumps, the majority of which are totally harmless. The mistake a lot of HA sufferers make us going looking for lumps and prodding & poking their bodies, looking for something to worry about. It's best to avoid this behaviour and just trust in your body :)

[Fishmanpa]

Hi Hannah,

I don't have HA but I have had OC. Typically OC doesn't present itself in the manner you describe. That being said, the OC rule of thumb is to have a suspicious lesion, area or node checked if it doesn't go away or grows in 2-3 weeks so your doctor is being a good doctor with the referral. In the mean time, as difficult as it may be, don't pick or play with the area!

As far as lumps and bumps? In reality, we're not made of smooth porcelain so we're bound to find lumps and bumps all over our bodies. The HA part comes down to treating it with therapy, CBT and possibly meds.

Good Luck!

[HannahA]

Thank you do much for your support, one of the techniques in CBT is nip the 'safety behaviours' in the butt eg. Reassurance seeking, DR google (although I've clearly relapsed)

Fishmania, thank you, I wish you all the best health in the world
H