Wondered if anyone had an opinion

[bex1970]

Hi there all,

I've finally decided to post about this - it's taken me so long to get the courage to do so, not sure why - sometimes I'm scared of no answers and sometimes I'm worried about what the answers will be! So silly I know as you are all so fantastic....

Anyway, in January I had tonsilitis and an ulcer on my tonsil - felt truly lousy - went to see doctor who diagnosed it, put me on antibiotics and it began to clear up. As it was getting better I began to get this strange feeling at the back of my nose (where it meets the mouth, or at least that's where it feels like it is). A bit like the feeling that you can get when you are getting a cold, almost as if a big chunk of mucus is stuck there. Well, try as I might, I couldn't clear it at all - googled (BIG ERROR), nasopharyngeal cancer comes up. Go into tail spin and go to Doctor who sends me to ENT. Had full ENt exam - he could see nothing, except for a deviated septum.... told me to come back if it hadn't cleared in 4 weeks - well, it didn't, so went back. He looked again.... sent me for an MRI - base of skull and sinuses. SHEER TERROR..... anyway, got the results - all clear everywhere, inclusive of sinuses bar a few reactive lymph nodes which he ASSURED me were as a result of an old cold or the tonsilitis (and were not big enough to cause obstruction) and he said they can take months to go back to their normal size - do I believe him!!? Anything to do with lymph nodes scares the living daylights out of me as have real cancer fear and permanently checking for lumps in neck etc. Now he promised me that an MRI would show any form of nasal, sinus cancer but I still have this feeling - honestly, it feels like food is stuck there and it drives me insane and I am really worried that they have missed something. I am going back to my GP on Tuesday to tell her that my HA is through the roof and also to tell her about this nose thing...

I'm really sorry this is a long post.... and probably a truly dull one but I am really worried and would so appreciate any insight or advice or someone who's had something similar....
Anything anyone can say/advise would be massively appreciated as it's taken me five months to dare to post it..... such a wimp I am!
Thanks so much.
x

[Chrismascray]

Hi there all,

I've finally decided to post about this - it's taken me so long to get the courage to do so, not sure why - sometimes I'm scared of no answers and sometimes I'm worried about what the answers will be! So silly I know as you are all so fantastic....

Anyway, in January I had tonsilitis and an ulcer on my tonsil - felt truly lousy - went to see doctor who diagnosed it, put me on antibiotics and it began to clear up. As it was getting better I began to get this strange feeling at the back of my nose (where it meets the mouth, or at least that's where it feels like it is). A bit like the feeling that you can get when you are getting a cold, almost as if a big chunk of mucus is stuck there. Well, try as I might, I couldn't clear it at all - googled (BIG ERROR), nasopharyngeal cancer comes up. Go into tail spin and go to Doctor who sends me to ENT. Had full ENt exam - he could see nothing, except for a deviated septum.... told me to come back if it hadn't cleared in 4 weeks - well, it didn't, so went back. He looked again.... sent me for an MRI - base of skull and sinuses. SHEER TERROR..... anyway, got the results - all clear everywhere, inclusive of sinuses bar a few reactive lymph nodes which he ASSURED me were as a result of an old cold or the tonsilitis (and were not big enough to cause obstruction) and he said they can take months to go back to their normal size - do I believe him!!? Anything to do with lymph nodes scares the living daylights out of me as have real cancer fear and permanently checking for lumps in neck etc. Now he promised me that an MRI would show any form of nasal, sinus cancer but I still have this feeling - honestly, it feels like food is stuck there and it drives me insane and I am really worried that they have missed something. I am going back to my GP on Tuesday to tell her that my HA is through the roof and also to tell her about this nose thing...

I'm really sorry this is a long post.... and probably a truly dull one but I am really worried and would so appreciate any insight or advice or someone who's had something similar....
Anything anyone can say/advise would be massively appreciated as it's taken me five months to dare to post it..... such a wimp I am!
Thanks so much.
x
HJi, you were kind enough to answer my post, I will do like wise, firstly YOU ARE NOT A WIMP. Right bthats that said, now do as I suggested, re read this, you have had all the tests, seen the top docs and ...........nothing, what advice would you give me had I posted the above? PLEASAE Do not think I dont know that this is 'real', I know it is NOT Real cancer but a real feeling and a real fear, I know it is, but you have had the tests, these people are professionals, these people actually see real cancer, they know what to look for the signs and the tell tales etc, they have given you the all clear. I had a lump on my neck once, I am not making this up, I could feel it, it was there rearl, my Doc said he felt nothing, I went for an X ray, scared to death, Nothing, there was nothing I saw the results for myself, it went away, but not over night, it took a little convincing it was in my head but the little lump knew eventually it wasnt really a little lump and disappered. If you have had the tets you have had with you level of worry these people are going to look and look again, and what have they found..............You know the answer. Good luck and take great care, SMILE It helps.

[lauren6]

Hi Bex, since I was a teenager, my tonsils are my weak spot. When I am run down, I see a white spot. Antibiotics would help when I had redness and pain but the tonsillitis I get now they feel it's viral so it comes and goes (one reason why I want to get more sleep). It doesn't bother me so I don't worry about it. Phlegm can give you the sensation of something being stuck. I have acid reflux and until I started taking Prevacid, I had that a lot. Do you have any acid coming up? Could that be a possibility...if so, you can try to take some measures, it may be so slight that you're not even aware of it, maybe stay away from acidic foods and night eating for a while?

Bex, I was convinced that I had bladder cancer last month, so much so that when he told me no, I was in shock. I was SO sure. Sometimes I wish computers never existed but the truth is, before this, I would spend hours in the book store in the medical department :-( But instant access to google is so detrimental to us. OK, you KNOW how accurate MRIs are. Radiologists spend many many years learning how to read them, they are MDs as you know, with extensive training. I wish someone would have knocked me over the head last month so I will give you a cyber knock on the head which may not reach you from NY :-) but please don't even think about cancer! Even though I don't have the neck lumps now, I did when I was younger and I still do have chronic lumpiness in the tonsils themselves, goes up, goes down. I just live with it and try to get more sleep. That's the nature of our lymph glands.

[bex1970]

Thank you both for replying - I know I should listen to myself - but we never do, do we!?

Lauren, the reflux is an interesting one.... I do suffer from that (Don't we all!) maybe I'll start on the lanzaprozole or whatever it's called as I have a load from my last bout.... worth a try.

But it's not a lump in throat sensation - I've had that for years and know what it is now! I get aches behind my left eye and in the left part of my neck too and my ear.... and this horrible sensation of something being really stuck behind my nose, almost into my mouth.

I know MRI's are the best you can get but normally when I panic I have something (like you with your bladder cancer) when I am assured that it is nothing, the symptoms eventually fade, but on this occasion they haven't at all.. that's really why I'm so alarmed. Silly I know but I've really got it into my head that I have naso-pharyngeal cancer.... and I can't shake it. It's horrible and totally irrational I know...

Sorry to go on - but I've opened the flood gates now! Thanks again guys for your replies, it's nice to let it out.
x

[tara1987]

hiya bex1970! dont worry yourself sill, (easier said than done.., i know) but like you, i too have this uncontrolable cancer fear, and i think everything ive got is cancer! it absolutely rules your life! its untrue! but like i said dont panic ,youve been given the all clear! it could be something as silly as because youve convinced yourself so much, you can feel something! weve all done it, thinking of things, and then suddenly we have the pains etc..! the mind is a weird powerful thing! and for future reference, dont panic if you feel a lump on your neck, because we all have them theyre glands, and sometimes they are more prominent some days than others! i do it all the time! and they come and go! take care x

[lauren6]

Bex, I am trying to picture where you mean as far as where the nose meets the mouth and all I can picture is the back of the throat or higher up. I imagine since you saw an ENT, he did the fiber optic scope up your nose (fun, right? I freaked)...I have had so many things done. Having an MRI of the head, even though it was an open one, was no picnic either because they put a shell over your head like a football helmet and you feel claustrophobic and can't move. I have had many MRIs and they are a breeze but not that one. Anyway, I am rambling but I will tell you what my dentist once said..."Sometimes there are no answers". They just don't know everything.

If you have read my posts, I am a believer in not carrying around anxiety, I would rather just know and get it over with and treated. I also live in an area where we can find someone who specializes in anything and the books give specifics in what disorder they treat within their specialty. So if they take my insurance, I will go. All I can say is that if you can get another opinion, it may be worth it. I hate when I go to the dr. and they say, "But I don't see anything". I walk out crying and feeling that nobody will help me. The one thing you know though is that it is not serious. That should help but I understand, it is an annoying sensation and you want it gone. If they can't find the cause, they can't find the treatment. I hope it just goes away on its own but yes, try the tummy pills. Is that a PPI (I think it's the same as Prevacid or Prilosec?) Unless you have bad reflux, why not try Zantac or Pepcid..if I could do it over again I would not have started Prevacid because it's hard to wean off. I took Zantac once for a lump in my throat (was reflux) and it went away after 6 weeks. It's milder and much easier to discontinue without backlash.

[bex1970]

Thanks Tara - I hate this cancer fear! But it's nice to know others are similar (though not nice for you obviously!).

Lauren - I know that sometimes I just have to accept that I'm having a sensation that might not have an explanation - but I am a logical person in that sense, so I find it hard. I also believe that we shouldn't carry anxiety around - hence why I am going to the GP to explain it all to her again, and get a second opinion - if that confirms the last explanation - then I will just settle for it.

Thank you so much for listening - it's good to have it off my chest.
x