Hi,
I am really looking for advice/support. Iv not long turned 30 and a mummy to two small boys.
About 18 months ago is when all my symptoms begun-
18 months ago I started getting a persistent sore throat, 5 days out of 7 I would have this chronic sore throat and feels almost identical to tonsillitis, after around 40 trips to the doctors over these past 18 months with these persistent sore throats I was always given antibiotics (never worked), told it was probably viral and to wait (18 months on still here ) , iv had blood tests (no infections indicated), throat swabs (always negative) - infact the more I went the more the doctors made me feel like it was all in my head as I’m “ too young for it to be anything more” , anyway about 7 months ago I started feeling really really tired, not just a normal tired but exhausted even after an 8 hour sleep a tiredness I know is not normal, then more and more symptoms have been coming- hoarseness ontop of this persistent sore throat, painful swallowing, loosing my voice after a long conversation. Most worryingly 6 months ago a lump on the right side of my neck it feels like a very enlarged lymph node that has been enlarged for 6 months and has not gone down ontop of that I have lost 1 stone 4 pounds in 3 months with no change to my diet and actually less excercise as iv been so very tired. Now the lump has been there I’m finally being taken... slightly ... more seriously. I have an ultrasound on my neck booked for March the 18th with a possible biopsy depending on what’s found. I also have been diagnosed with hpv 16 and 18 and I know this as there is a lesion on my cervix (really hard time at the moment) anyway from my research the type of hpv I have is connected with oral as well as cervical cancer. I feel alone, scared, no one understands me or really what I’m dealing with. I’m a young mum and have so much fear and the fact I’m young doctors have just ignored me for 18 months until I’m 7stone with a lump coming from my neck. Please can anyone tell me how they felt with throat cancer? Will the neck ultrasound help diagnose this? If not which route do I go down. My gp sent me for an endoscopy but the surgeon said that this would not diagnose throat cancer because it goes straight down the esophegus and to the stomach. So I’m not sure how this gets diagnosed. I know it’s their- the pain, the lump, the weight loss, hoarse voice. I’m textbook yet no one is taking me seriously because I’m young. If anyone has had this journey please give me advice, I want to be there for my children and I’m wondering how far it’s got if I have it as I have been trying to get an answer for 18 months.
