Feel ill for months.

[NoraB]

If you think your riddled with cancer for last 12 months would you be reassured if my latest bloods are ok. I have a swollen lymph node on collarbone too.

Surely you understand that, if you were 'riddled' with cancer your blood work would be off the charts? Riddled implies that numerous organs are involved and there would be imbalances all over the place!

[zippy]

Well maybe not riddled but if you think you've had it even in one place. I just feel constantly dreadful everyday.

[zippy]

So worried. I've had a stiff neck for a month and I felt a lump on my collarbone. I went to drs last friday and my dr could feel it and said wait 2 weeks to see if it goes. She thinks it's either my rheumatoid arthritis or costochondritis. I'm so sure its cancer. Its causing my neck to be stiff and spasms. It moves about but it's not going. I feel like nobody believes me. I've felt awful for 12 months.

[NoraB]

I'm so sure its cancer.

Of course you do because you have a raging case of HA!

I feel like nobody believes me. I've felt awful for 12 months.

I believe you've felt awful for 12 months. I don't doubt that for one second. Doesn't mean you have cancer..

Do you mean that people don't believe you have cancer?

Why are you sure it's cancer?

[zippy]

Yes I feel nobody believes how ill I feel and that I have something sinister going on.

[NoraB]

Yes I feel nobody believes how ill I feel and that I have something sinister going on.

I'm not exaggerating, whatsoever, when I say that I thought I was dying - despite not having any previous experience of 'dying'. It's just that I felt so ill, that something had to be seriously wrong, right?

Wrong.

Your doctors don't think there is anything sinister going on and the test results concur. It's your mind which is saying otherwise...

[zippy]

I know I just latch on to horror stories of people that's been mis diagnosed.

[Redsmum]

I know I just latch on to horror stories of people that's been mis diagnosed.

Know just what you mean i used to be exactly the same, we both know its the horror stories that sell the paper/magazine, normality such as so & so went to the dr’s was referred to hospital was treated & everything was absolutely fine, thats never going on the front page of a magazine is it! Really sorry to hear you’ve been feeling ill for so long its so tiring and wearisome isn’t it, its hard for others to understand exactly how you feel but you have to believe the blood tests are right its the way your mind is working thats making you think the worst. Take care Zippy & hope you can find some peace of mind

[NoraB]

I know I just latch on to horror stories of people that's been mis diagnosed.

People get misdiagnosed because doctors are not robots. They're human. Sometimes we as patients can mislead doctors by hiding symptoms. I can say that the NHS misdiagnosed my dad twice, and he died, but I also have to say that, had he have acted on his symptoms as soon as they started (and urinary issues with men over 50 requires a prostate examination) his life might have been saved.

We have to accept the risk - because it's one which affects us all if we are to make use of the NHS, and the benefits of using this service greatly outweighs everything else. The life of my son, and possibly mine, has already been saved by the NHS. My mother survived cancer. The list is endless. But we also have to take some responsibility for our own health and not blindly do everything we're told to do or take every pill we're told to take without asking questions and understanding the long-term risks or contraindications with other stuff we take - including herbal - which most people have no understanding of. If we think a diagnosis is wrong - we can ask for a second opinion. We can also choose not to be scared to death by reading 'horror stories' in the papers or by Googling symptoms which will invariably cough up stories like, 'I was misdiagnosed 3 times and now I have 3 months to live'. You can limit what you see, and it's up to you to do this.

[zippy]

I cant stop checking this squidgy lump. Now I'm checking my neck and think I can feel lumps in there too. Been ill for 14 months thinking I have cancer. I've got no energy at all and cry everyday. I just cant go on anymore. Even though I fear death I sometimes wish I would die in my sleep.