Can cancer symptoms improve without treatment?

[Sefton]

Hi all,
My HA is currently through the roof. I'm convinced I have Sinus cancer.

In May I had a bad head cold that took about 10 days to clear using OTC meds. A week or so later it came back with a vengeance - chronic ear and sinus pain and symptoms. GP prescribed antibiotics and it cleared up, well almost, I still had a crackly, poppy ear but most worryingly no sense of smell. GP assured me this wasn't unusual following the infection I had. Told me not to worry and things would return to normal in time.

On Sunday I noticed a slight swelling on my cheek so googled - big mistake - sinus cancer!!!! The swelling and no smell are listed as two of the main symptoms. The other symptom are:

Blocked or congested nose - I don't have that, both sides are clear but I do get a bit snotty from time to time.
Nosebleeds - No. Not yet anyway.
Mucus from nose or post nasal drip - No, but I do clear my throat a lot because it feels like a lump of phlegm but rarely is there anything there.
Sinus pain around, under or above the eyes - No, but I do get an ache on the top of my head also very achy neck and shoulders.
Watery eye - not recently but I do occasionally get one eye that waters when I'm outside.
Swelling on the face, around the eyes or in the mouth that can fell numb - I can't see anything at the moment.

The swelling I noticed has gone and now, after three months my sense of smell seems to be coming back. Not 100%, but I can now smell some scents. I still get an occasional twinge in my ear

I keep telling myself I'm overreacting but I just can't get the thoughts out of my head. The surgery to remove sinus tumours is totally horrific, people lose their eyes and half their faces. There's no way I could cope with that.

Please, I just need a strategy or something to try to banish these negative thoughts and fears.

Thank you
Fran

[Gary A]

Hi all,
My HA is currently through the roof. I'm convinced I have Sinus cancer.

In May I had a bad head cold that took about 10 days to clear using OTC meds. A week or so later it came back with a vengeance - chronic ear and sinus pain and symptoms. GP prescribed antibiotics and it cleared up, well almost, I still had a crackly, poppy ear but most worryingly no sense of smell. GP assured me this wasn't unusual following the infection I had. Told me not to worry and things would return to normal in time.

On Sunday I noticed a slight swelling on my cheek so googled - big mistake - sinus cancer!!!! The swelling and no smell are listed as two of the main symptoms. The other symptom are:

Blocked or congested nose - I don't have that, both sides are clear but I do get a bit snotty from time to time.
Nosebleeds - No. Not yet anyway.
Mucus from nose or post nasal drip - No, but I do clear my throat a lot because it feels like a lump of phlegm but rarely is there anything there.
Sinus pain around, under or above the eyes - No, but I do get an ache on the top of my head also very achy neck and shoulders.
Watery eye - not recently but I do occasionally get one eye that waters when I'm outside.
Swelling on the face, around the eyes or in the mouth that can fell numb - I can't see anything at the moment.

The swelling I noticed has gone and now, after three months my sense of smell seems to be coming back. Not 100%, but I can now smell some scents. I still get an occasional twinge in my ear

I keep telling myself I'm overreacting but I just can't get the thoughts out of my head. The surgery to remove sinus tumours is totally horrific, people lose their eyes and half their faces. There's no way I could cope with that.

Please, I just need a strategy or something to try to banish these negative thoughts and fears.

Thank you
Fran

Cancer doesn't fix itself. It grows, it gets worse, and without treatment you'd die.

You do not have cancer, it is physically impossible.

[Phuzella]

Agreed

[Sefton]

Thank you for responding Gary. I wish I had your confidence. I feel like a big black cloud is hanging over me.

[brucealmighty]

you could very well have sinusitis - I`m not diagnosing you here by the way I`m not a medical person - but I had it a long time back and the head pain, congestion, throat etc is as bad as I`ve ever known. your sinuses run up over your head into your neck so you can get bad pain at any point on that path and it`s sudden and very unsettling.

but it`s not cancer so the strategy for this is stop googling, just don`t do it.

[Sefton]

you could very well have sinusitis - I`m not diagnosing you here by the way I`m not a medical person - but I had it a long time back and the head pain, congestion, throat etc is as bad as I`ve ever known. your sinuses run up over your head into your neck so you can get bad pain at any point on that path and it`s sudden and very unsettling.

but it`s not cancer so the strategy for this is stop googling, just don`t do it.

If it were cancer, would the pain come and go or would it be constant? The pain doesn't increase if I bend over which apparently sinus pain does? It feels more like someone's pushing the top of my head.

[Fishmanpa]

I'm a survivor.

Cancer in an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It doesn't come and go nor does it stop once it starts.

Positive thoughts

[Sefton]

I'm a survivor.

Cancer in an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It doesn't come and go nor does it stop once it starts.

Positive thoughts

Thank you. I'm trying to be positive and I keep telling myself I'm being irrational. I know my physical symptoms can be linked to this overwhelming anxiety. I was first diagnosed with HA two years ago but it's never been this bad. I just can't shake this one off. I'm also three weeks into Prozac prescription and have heard anxiety can sometimes increase in the first few weeks. I'm hoping if I keep telling myself it's linked to the meds I might cope better and come out the other side in one piece.

[Captain irrational]

I have read about some very rare cases in which cancer sufferers have gone into what is known a "spontaneous remission" without treatment, how and why this happens is still a mystery to medical science. But these are exceptions to the rule, 99.9% of the time cancer will not get better without treatment.

So I suppose that leaves us with two options.

1) You are one of these exceptionally rare people with a miracle immune system that can destroy cancer all by itself (highly unlikely).

2) You don't and never did have cancer and your symptoms were probably just caused by allergies or infection that have now cleared up (much more likely).

Either way, it's a win win.