im not sure if i should be here taking up time.... ive had an ulcer/sore it started white now its red.. that wont heal ...had it 3 weeks ...and problems swallowing now and then.....also clearing my throat... (I had a similar one in november but it weent in a couple of days)my dentist has referred me to the hospital. i have looked at symptoms on the net and have some but i dont know.... i suspect i have cancer as i dont feel right although this has been made worse by being referred....i dont know when i'll get seen as apparently waiting times arnt good in the uk but northampton general was excellent when i had heart attacks. i have diabetes and have had 2 heart attacks and 3 stents put in about 5 years ago. i had my blood sugar under control but now it seems to have gone haywire. i have no breathing probs as ive been taking chelation and it clears the arteries.....in fact i was beginning to feel on top of the world....then this....can some1 please tell me what to expect with treatment ... the wait etc.

thanx jeffers

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jeffers,

Hi jeffers,

You are obviously concerned otherwise you wouldn't be on this site. There are government guidelines now which ENT departments try to follow. I read the guidelines last time I was at the hospital and I think that the expected time for a referral is about three weeks. Hopefully you will be seen within this time. I can't really tell you what the standard referral process from a dentist is, as I was reffered by my GP, but I panicked about the referral times, so decided to see a consultant privately. I have never regretted this decision, as I saw the consultant in a few days, and was in hospital for a tonsilectomy within another couple of days. However I had been suffering from a sore throat and swollen right tonsil for a couple of months before this, and I had been to the doctors about half a dozen times, and tried various anti-biotics, none of which cured the problem.

I think the referral times are much quicker now, but if you are worried why not phone your local hospital and ask what their waiting times are. I think the phrasing of the letter of referral written by your dentist will also determine how long you may have to wait. My doctor wrote two letters, the first was a general referral, and the second was because I was really concerned about the tonsil getting larger, and this said that he suspected a possible malignancy. As I said I then decided to go privately, so I read these letters in the consultants office.

I know you'll be really worried at the moment, and scouring the internet to try and work out what you may have, but the internet is a scary diagnosis tool, as the most serious illnesses get the greatest coverage. By getting a referral you are doing the best you can for youself, if it's nothing serious then that is great news, and if not then the earlier these things are caught the better the chances of successful treatment. Good luck with your appointment at the ENT department and let me know how you get on.

hi jenni
thanx very much....how do i get a private consultation at hos......do i go back to my dentist

thanx jeff

Hi jeffers.

I phoned my local BUPA hospital and asked for an appointment. They asked me if I wanted to see a specific consultant, and I said I wanted the soonest appointment I could get. They made an appointment with a general ENT consultant. I had to ask my doctors to fax the referral letters they had written and sent to the hospital over to the BUPA hospital. I paid about £150 for the appointment, and £100 for an investigation where he put a flexible camera up my nose and down the back of my throat. I got half of the appointment fee back from HSA.
This was the only cost I incurred as the consultant put me on his NHS operation list for two days later.

many thanx for that jenni i will be at my dentists door 9am monday......i have no health insurance..... how are you doing can you eat ok....is there any pain...... i dont have any at present but its my worst nightmare....when the 2nd sore broke out in the roof of my mouth i'd never had pain like it even tho it was only for a couple of minutes..... i cant settle since the dentist said to refer me i keep doing the same thing over and over just to try and take my mind off it..... thanx very much for your support i do feel better knowing that i can do something about it rather than waiting

jeff

Hi jeff,

I'm fine now and not in any pain, just aches which I think are probably due to the chemo. It's a year since I had my treatment and I'm pratically back to normal . I was extremely lucky that I spotted the problem early and the cancer was caught at a really early stage. Don't worry about the pain from any treatment.
The medical proffesion seems to be agreed that head and neck cancer sufferers shouldn't suffer from the pain and will quite happily prescribe extremely strong painkillers. I was on liquid morphine for a few months, and many of the others were on even stronger doses.

The treatment for Head and Neck cancer has quite a few side effects, including loss of taste buds and saliva. Something most of the people on this site really miss is the enjoyment most people get from eating and drinking socially, so my recommendsation is to go out for a meal with some friends to take your mind of off your worries. Either way you'll have had a great night out with some friends.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jenni,

thanx jenni im glad you are ok and i hope you stay that way........i have a family in fareham.....the spooners...lost touch years ago

good luck

jeff

Hi Jeffers

How did you get on at your dentists, was it beneficial?

I saw an ENT privately and he charged about £100 for the consultation, I am sorry that you are suffering so much, I found drinking warm honey and blackcurrent quite soothing, I know I probably sound a right wolly!! I just can't seem to be able to drink tea or coffee any more.

Best wishes any way, Susie

hi susiew
my doctor was hopeless he never even looked with a torch just said open your mouth and peered in from about 6ft then gave me antibiotics and said it might be something to do with caries see your dentist. i did the next day and she referred me to consultant straightaway and i have an private appointment on moday but im really down at mo and going to see a different doc to get some pills to sleep and for the depression this eve 5.30. my throat is not sore its mostly numb and aches. your not a wolly im grateful you took the trouble to reply

thanx take care

jeff

Well I do hope it is with a different doctor!

hi pauline it certainly is...... but at mo cant sleep worry etc.... i feel a bit better that i got a private appointment in a week (even a urgent app from dentist referral is about 6 weeks the hospital told me.... the normal wait is 13weeks
take care
jeff

We are in the same situation with regards to waiting for an appointment at the hospital. This time it's for our son. He was referred by his dentist as during a routine check-up in December he found a lump underneath his tongue. He has referred him to the same hospital/team that are treating Robert. This is obviously not the sort of thing you want to hear when Robert is at the moment recovering from treatment for tongue cancer himself. We were told that the usual waiting period is 11 weeks.

I've been looking at NHS waiting times on the internet site http://www.nhs.uk/England/AboutTheNHS/Nsf/Cancer.cmsx
and I found the following guidelines in the NHS Cancer Plan


Shorter waits and faster treatment: are two of the prorities set out in the NHS Cancer Plan and other key NHS documents. Many of these commitments have already been met, and by December 2005:

All patients urgently referred by their GP with suspected cancer, who are then diagnosed with cancer, should be treated within two months of their GP referral.And all patients diagnosed with cancer should be treated within one month of their diagnosis. There has already been good progress towards these challenging targets, but a national project has been launched to support PCTs and NHS Trusts to achieve these goals by helping them to focus on reducing waits right across the service - including waits for diagnostic tests.


On the department of health website in the targets for cancer waiting times http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/94/52/04139452.pdf
it talks about two tagets. The 31 day target, where all suspected cancer patients with an urgent GP referral should be seen by a consultant within 31 days. The 62 day target is where all cancer patients should start their treatment within 62 days of the GP referral.


I'm not sure if this is good news or not, does a longer waiting time mean that your GP doesn't think that there is a possibility of cancer, so they haven't given you an 'urgent' referral. If so it may be worth going back to your GP and asking them to send a second and more urgent referral. Alternatively is the NHS not living up to its own expectations.

Either way I think a waiting time of 11 or 13 weeks is terrible and our health service should be providing much more. In the long run it's got to be cost effective to catch potential cancer as soon as possible.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jenni,

hi jenni
what you have unearthed is scandalous in my opnion it just doesnt bear out with any of the so called targets..... i knew nothing about these probs....i have always had excellent service from nhs in the past...heart attacks-diabetes etc..... but it seems the doc just sat there holding out his hand for his 100,000 a year and if it wernt for the dentist ... who was a student i might add........i would probably still be listening to his drivel....he never even looked in my mouth properly......and how can you see anything from 3 foot away with a torch..... but he didnt even use one and he squints when he looks at you anyway so i should have heard the alarm bells ringing but what can we do about it i feel that if i complain which i feel very strongly that i should......i will get even worse treatment...... when all this is over and hopefully i recover i will get very militant about it its absolutely appalling what is going on....... id better stop before i have another coronary....
take care and all the best

jeff

Hi Jeff
I have just found this site myself - I understand how you must be feeling the wait to see the consultant is the worst - good luck for Monday. I live in Staffordshire and my treatment was very good from me finding a lump in my neck in April 2004. I had various tests and was finally diagnosed in August - surgery followed 2 weeks later and then chemo & radiotherapy the following 4 months. A close friend of mine recently found a lump in her neck - turned out to be a thyroid goyter, what a relief. It is not always bad news even though we always seem to think the worst. Try to stay positive, all the best
Sheila