I'm new to the board. Hello everyone. I have a really strange hard bone like lump inside my left tonsil pillar. It feels like a pointy bone or something. There is nothing like it on the other side. I'm really scared it's cancer of corse, but I guess I'm looking for a little reassurance that it could be something else! I'm terrified! Please HELP!!!

Hello Ace

It is best for you to see an ENT specialist about this lump and your sore throat. Let us knw what s/he says.

Best wishes
Vinod

Went to see my GP. I couldn't get in to see the ENT for quite some time cause he is booked. Anyway, he is pretty confident that it is a normal bone back there, but he ordered a CT scan just to be sure. I am pretty scared of getting the test. I hope it comes back normal. Thanks Dr. Joshi for answering my posts. I am still very frightened!

Hi AoS

My advice, for what it's worth is - Until somebody confirms the worse, you don't have a problem - so live life accordingly.

It seems to me that the CT scan has been ordered to prove his diagnosis and as these people have far more knowledge than the layman - they probably know what they are talking about - so think positive on this.

Good luck
Pete

Thank you so much Pete for your kind words. It really does help. I have been a worry wart my whole life and I really do need to try to think positive. I get my test tomarrow at 3:30. I am scared but I'm going to do my best to get through this! Thanks for wishing me luck though! It really does mean alot to me. Have you ever had one of these tests? Do they hurt?

Hi Ace,

The CT scan is a breeze. They give you an injection of a dye to show up the tissues, and then you just lie still whilst the machine whirs around you.

It sounds as if your GP isn't too worried, I saw two letters that my GP had written to the ENT department. If they are really worried they say that they suspect a malignancy and you jump to the top of the queue. I got myself into a panic reading the waiting times from the internet and thought I wasn't going to see a consultant for months, so I saw a consultant privately. As I went in for a tonsilectomy a couple of days later, I think this sped up the diagnosis by about two or three weeks. However I had been going to the doctors every week with a sore throat for 6-8 weeks by then, so when the doctor said he wanted to refer me I was quite sure that there was something fairly serious wrong.

Good luck, I hope that everything is OK.

Jenni

Thank you so much for the reply Jenni! I am a little less concered about the test now! I am about to leave for the hospital so I am just praying and hoping. My throat has been sore off and on for the last couple months too. I will just have to leave it in God's hands for now I guess. I will let everyone know what happens. Thank you so much for your well wishes. They mean alot to me. I hope things are going well for you too!
Beth

I just got the results of my CT. I am VERY frightened. My thyroid gland is enlarged. Now I am supposed to go to the hospital on Feb 8 to get more tests. I am really terrified it's thyroid cancer. I can't even describe how scared I am. I wish I could have the test sooner, but because I just had a CT, they have to wait for the die to get out of my system. I don't know how I'm going to stand waithing for a MONTH! Anyone have any advice?
Beth

Hello Ace

An enlarged thyroid gland doesn't mean that you have a thyroid cancer. It is more probably a cyst or a goitre. Hence more tests are needed.

If you think it will help you if you knew more about thyroid cancer, read about Ruth's experience. She had a thyroid cancer and is doing very well six years later.

As you are worried, you should speak to your doctor and ask if they could do the tests sooner.

Best wishes
Vinod

I was reading a little about goitres. Aren't they always visible from the outside? I would desparately like to think it is something benign like that, but you can't even tell mine is swollem from the outside and I can not feel any lumps in my neck (THANK GOD!) Does anyone know about these thyroid scans? I'm supposed to have a radioactive injection! This test isn't even going to tell me if it's cancer. I don't understand what they are looking for. My doctor is on vaction this week so I can't ask him. Wouldn't an ultrasound be better? What can they tell from blood tests?