Is my ENT on the right track?

lostconfusedandscared@goo · medicine forum beginner Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 1

This is liable to be a bit of a ramble, so I apologise in advance....

Essentially, I am only now seeking treatment for something that has
been blighting me for almost five years - At the time, I did see
doctors and confess my fears to people, but it unfortunately coincided
with a nervous breakdown, so I wasn't taken very seriously at all.

In (very) late 2001 / (very) early 2002 I noticed a bump on the back of
my head, which I greatly suspected was a lymph node - At the time, its
size increased rapidly though it settled into a cm or two within a few
days. This was followed by a general malaise, a feeling that I couldn't
summon the energy to do much of note - to tell you the truth, that had
been the case for at least a year before, most noticeably when working
but this expanded on that, and brought with it other symptoms, such as
an intolerance of cold weather (previously I could sit around in a
t-shirt on winter days - no more) Throughout 2002, from January to
October, I came across other firm-to-hard enlarged lymph nodes - One on
the right side of my neck (1cm thin, firm)...one on the left side
(under 1cm, thin, rubbery). Two underneath my jaw at the back (larger -
though not visible without palpation - stony and above my left
collarbone, which I have since discovered is known as the
supraclavicular or Virchow's (thin, firm, around 1cm).

In the years that have passed since then, no new symptoms have arisen.
Nothing's gotten worse, nothing's really gotten better. I often find
myself lacking energy as I have done for a few years now. None of the
nodes have gotten any bigger. I had more or less shut all of this out
of my mind, but times have changed and now that I find myself in a
happier place it came flooding back, causing me to make a prompt
appointment with an ENT via my G.P.

After filling my brain with internet literature on such subjects
beforehand, my big fear was that the ENT might suggest Paranasal
cancer, squamous cell or something of that ilk - I did develop
tinnitus, primarily in my left ear, a few months before all kicked off
at the end of 2001. However, he set my mind at ease somewhat by
suggesting that if I had such a cancer which had already displayed
fairly widespread nodal metastasis over four years ago, I'd likely be
in a considerably worse state now, not finding myself without
additional symptoms.

I will be going for biopsy in a fortnight and more will be revealed
then - He told me that if, as he suspects, there is a malignancy, a
low-grade Lymphoma is, perhaps, not unlikely. I can accept that, but I
do have to query certain aspects of that - Wherever I look, I find
additional symptoms of Lymphoma. Hot flushes, itching to name a
couple, which aren't out of the question, but are also not particularly
common for me . Weight-loss is another....I haven't lost a great deal
of weight during the last few years, and don't have too many problems
putting it on if need be.

It's very difficult for me, as obviously I don't want to discover that
I'm literally living on borrowed time due to my inability to push the
issue four and a half years ago. I wonder if any of you knowledgeable
people in here might be able to make suggestions at to what might be
going on - If it helps any, I'd turned 19 only a few months before it
all kicked off in 2001 and will be 24 years old this summer.

Thank for your help,

Marcus.

clifto · medicine forum addict Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 56

lostconfusedandscared@googlemail.com wrote:

Marcus · medicine forum beginner Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 8

clifto wrote:

alex · medicine forum beginner Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 23

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