Sore throat for months and now chest pain. Does this sound like a spreading cancer?

[SamL94]

The problems I am having with throat/neck are getting worse, and I am getting more and more worried. My neck feels really tight when I look up, to the point where I can't look up for more than a few seconds. And when I say 'look up', I don't necessarily mean up to the ceiling. I was watching a TV today which was up on the wall and even looking slightly up at that was causing me problems (especially when leaning forward). Also in the past few days I am getting a sharp knot pain on my adam's apple, kind of like somebody is squeezing it.

Also, there is something not right about this lump which I have already mentioned. It basically feels like a 2nd adams apple to the right of my proper one. I can see my actual adams apple move when I swallow and that is in the centre of my neck, so this lump is not that. Like I say it feels hard like my adams apple, but just to the right of it. Also before somebody says its normal, it's funny that the lump sensation/pain when I swallow is JUST on my right side, exactly where this lump is. This shows the lump is causing this. And I do not buy this explanation about it being anxiety, because the sore throat on my right side started FIRST, and THEN I felt this lump when examining my throat. So it's not like I felt this lump and then started getting pain in my throat. Plus I am sure that this lump is getting bigger (not too noticeable but it does feel like it has gone further along my neck in the past couple of months). Also, before people say this lump isn't a problem and that I am worrying about nothing, remember that I went to my GP about this lump last year and he said it wasn't a problem. It was only when I went back in January of this year that my GP admitted the lump had GROWN, and sent me to a specialist. So how is this me being paranoid when my GP even admitted that the lump had grown, as well as other people that I showed it to.

I know I had the camera down my throat and also the ultrasound, but I still have doubts. I mean, while the camera would show throat cancer, it wouldn't pick up something such as thyroid cancer. To be honest I was never that worried about cancer of the throat anyway because I can still breathe, eat, and drink ok. It is something such as thyroid cancer that most worries me. I know you're all going to say that the ultrasound would pick up thyroid cancer, but I have read a couple of people say they had an ultrasound or CT scan which showed nothing, but cancer was later found.

I really want a biopsy but I have no chance of getting anything should I go back to the doctors.

To the people who say I have anxiety, could you just try to answer this question: Why are the lump sensation/pain problems I am having all coming down my right side, where this lump is? This surely shows that the lump is causing the problems. Plus when I look over my left shoulder I can feel this lump pressing against the right of my neck, which isn't normal.

Plus I have been diagnosed with acid reflux but I cannot see how this can be the problem. First of all I am not suffering from belching or anything like that, plus, like I say, acid reflux would not cause a physical lump.

I cannot get this wrong because this is my whole life on the line. I cannot leave it because 'the camera would probably have seen something' or 'the ultrasound would more than likely have picked it up' or 'cancer is rare in young people'.

I have always been quite a laid back but this problem in the past few months has ruined me and I don't know how much more or this I can take.

[SamL94]

The area of my throat/neck (on the right side) around where this lump is really aching and it definitely feels like there is something there. And like I mentioned in my last post when I look over my left shoulder I can feel the lump pushing against my neck quite badly.

Why is this happening, acid reflux would not cause this. How have doctors not picked up on this? I'm going to go back.

Also I cannot stop losing weight. I have lost ANOTHER 3 lbs since the 5th May despite eating over 2,000 calories everyday and doing minimal excercise.

Something is seriously wrong here and the doctors have managed to miss it.

I really cannot do all this any longer. It is constantly in my head to be point where I cannot concentrate on anything anymore and I always have that sickly worried feeling in my stomach.

[SamL94]

I've just weighed myself again today and i have lost ANOTHER lb since yesterday. I have eaten over 2,000 calories today and done no excercise. I cannot take this any longer.

And before any of you say that i am losing weight because of 'anxiety' i have actually been in an ok mood today, and hardly been thinking about my problems. Why, therefore, am i losing another lb. And that is after eating.

I swear down i am going to march down to a&e and DEMAND tests because i cannot take this any longer.

My symptoms are getting worse and im losing weight at a scary rate.

[AnxietyJay]

Trust me, if you had Cancer you'd have more serious symptoms by now, or possibly dead.

The lumps in your neck sound like swallow lymph nodes. We have lots of them in the body and they usually flair up in response to an infection.

But, if you keep touching and poking them they will grow and they can take a long time to go down. I'm guessing you keep touching and checking them which means they will never return to normal. If you're like me, I did this, and the only way to break that obsession is to wrap a scarf around your neck and don't mess.

99% sure you do not have Cancer. I had Stage 1 Testicle Cancer and although I caught it very early your body seems to just know when something is serious. After my ultrasound they diagnosed me instantly. These doctors know what they're doing when it comes to Cancer and all those tests you've had would have picked Cancer up.

So, with that in mind please stop obsessing over Cancer. You will drive yourself around the twist. It's not a healthy obsession and I've been there.

Imagine being cured of Cancer and then have to go for regular checkups for 5 years. Can you imagine my worry every time I feel ill? It's deliberating at times. I feel your pain regarding the worry. When you're in worry mode the first thing you do when you wake up is put yourself in a down mood which then persists all day. Stop letting this worry destroy you. Please. It's a vicious cycle.

The way I try to look at things is like "Hey if the man upstairs has called my number there's nothing I can do about it so there's no point in worrying". In reality what can obsessive worrying do? It wont make the situation improve. It will just drive you mad.

Of course ... this thinking doesn't aways work because I too am now obsessing over something else.

Stay positive. You don't have Cancer.

[SamL94]

Hi. First of all thank you for the reply. I'll go through either paragrah of it with the thoughts that are still going through my head.

Trust me, if you had Cancer you'd have more serious symptoms by now, or possibly dead.

While I admit that I have no serious symptoms, my symptoms have gotten worse in the past few months. I don't know if you've read all my past posts but I have started getting mild chest pains, and also now when I look to the left I get an aching on the right side of my neck where this 'lump' is, almost as if it is pushing against the skin. This is obviously worrying me that it is getting bigger. Also, I've read other stories about people who had tests after a year of mild problems, only to be diagnosed with cancer, which shows that, in some cases, people can go over a year with no serious symptoms.

The lumps in your neck sound like swallow lymph nodes. We have lots of them in the body and they usually flair up in response to an infection.

Wouldn't swollen lymph notes still show up on the ultrasound though?

But, if you keep touching and poking them they will grow and they can take a long time to go down. I'm guessing you keep touching and checking them which means they will never return to normal. If you're like me, I did this, and the only way to break that obsession is to wrap a scarf around your neck and don't mess.

I admit that I am touching it on occasions, but I did go a week without touching it, and there was no difference, the lump was still the same.

99% sure you do not have Cancer. I had Stage 1 Testicle Cancer and although I caught it very early your body seems to just know when something is serious. After my ultrasound they diagnosed me instantly. These doctors know what they're doing when it comes to Cancer and all those tests you've had would have picked Cancer up.

So, with that in mind please stop obsessing over Cancer. You will drive yourself around the twist. It's not a healthy obsession and I've been there.

Imagine being cured of Cancer and then have to go for regular checkups for 5 years. Can you imagine my worry every time I feel ill? It's deliberating at times. I feel your pain regarding the worry. When you're in worry mode the first thing you do when you wake up is put yourself in a down mood which then persists all day. Stop letting this worry destroy you. Please. It's a vicious cycle.

The way I try to look at things is like "Hey if the man upstairs has called my number there's nothing I can do about it so there's no point in worrying". In reality what can obsessive worrying do? It wont make the situation improve. It will just drive you mad.

Of course ... this thinking doesn't aways work because I too am now obsessing over something else.

Stay positive. You don't have Cancer.

I really am trying to stay positive but it's hard. The uncomfortable feeling on the right side of my throat when I swallow is directly where this lump in, which is making me think that obviously the lump is causing it. Basically, this lump feels like my adams apple, but it is slightly to the right, rather than central. And then when I look over my left shoulder the lump can be seen under the skin, and I can feel a ball in my neck. Like I say, I can't say whether this is my adams apple itself, or whether it is some form of swelling or lump on the side. But why would my adams apple be to the side, wouldn't I have noticed it before? And why does it now feel like it is pushing against the skin when I look over my left shoulder? If this was just my adams apple it shouldn't do that.

I am still really really worried and my life has honestly just stopped at the moment because of this.

[SamL94]

I am still not happy with all this.

The thyroid specialist I went to see earlier on this year wrote to my GP saying that I could go back and see them after a few months if my symptoms have not cleared and today I did. I explained that my symptoms are actually getting worse and they just had a feel of my neck and then tried to reassure me (which obviously didn't work).

Now, the specialist ADMITTED that I do have a mass on the right side that is not on the left, but just said it is part of my windpipe bone (or something like that) and that it is not of worry.

But that does not explain why I am getting discomfort right where this lump is. If it is just a irregularity like what all bodies have, then why the pain? Plus, the specialist is wrong because the lump quite clearly moves up and down with my adams apple when I swallow, something which my windpipe bone or whatever would not do. Plus, I couldn't feel this lump a year ago when shaving, yet now every time I shave it gets in the way. If it is just an irregularity that has always been there, why could I not feel it when shaving a year ago?

I swear half of the doctors and specialists seem stupider than me. I'm sure they wouldn't be so laid back if it was a lump in their neck which was causing discomfort and was bigger than it was a year ago.

I'm going back to my GP this week and demanding to go private again. I will spend every last penny I have if it means me getting to the bottom of this.

[Ayre10]

Hi sam,

Seems to be a similarity to my problem which is also within the forum.

Mine seems to be getting worse and I actually feel whatever is growing in my throat everytime I swallow, I also have small particals of food, I too have the pressure at the front of my kneck.

I think the only way to figure this out is by going private.

I'm sorry your having to go through this, however I am going through the same thing but mine seems within the throat rather than outside of it.

[illgetthere]

Have you looked in to lpr(silent gerd) and you can't say your weight loss in a symptom of anything when you have stated that you have been on a strict diet that clearly gives the reason for that.