Throat cancer

[Lazymeatball]

I'm no doctor but there's probably s number of things that could be causing those symptoms. It's probably not cancer, but it is still something that needs to be taken care of.

[shummie]

Wow you guys have great doctors!

Personal story follows... feel free to skip to the "long story short" section in bold.

When I was on my father's HMO, I got less than steller treatment. Some people say HMOs blow. Maybe I just had a bad family doctor, and ran into a bad specialist. I haven't yet been to the doctor while on my new health plan so I can't make a comparison. It is possible that what happens below is a unique case. From what I hear though, other people have had similar experiences with healthcare professionals.

In any case, when I had pain in my leg three years ago, my family doctor was absolutely no help. After going to her and being mis-diagnosed and given exercises which would have been good for a leg problem (pain in leg) but were actually bad for a back problem (pinched nerve causing pain in the leg), I used WebMD to read-up on siatica and back problems. I then spent a lot of energy convincing my family doctor to write me an Rx for an MRI.

After the MRI results showed what looked like a slipped disc, pinched nerve, bulging disc, etc, I was Rx'd for physical therapy which sometimes helps this kind of thing go away. Meanwhile my back got so bad that I couldn't stand for more than 30 seconds. After a month of PT, my family doctor wanted me to try another month. I maybe explained to her what "Can't stand for more than 30 seconds means" and she referred me to a Nuero Surgeon.

The surgeon said I had "spinal stenois" and I would have to have a disc removed and two vertibrae fused. Serious serious surgery... I'd be on my back for 3 mo., etc. Against the advice of my family doctor, I reminded her that I was entitled to a second opinion. For my second opinion I went to a NueroloGIST, not a surgeon this time. He looked at my MRI and Xrays, did a test where he stuck needles hooked up to a radio in my leg, and told me the first doctor was fooey. I had a slipped disc. Spinal Stenosis is something old people get. I should go to his Nuero Surgeon friend and have a lamenectomy where they make a small incision and just cut away the bulging part of the disc. This surgery had a downtime of 2 weeks and, with proper PT follow up, no long term effects.

Now I went to my family doctor so I could get a referal for a 3rd opinion. I figured when doctor A says X and doctor B says Y, I need to find me a doctor C who can hopeful conccur with one of these other fellows. My family doctor told me that both of the other doctors were actually in agreeance. I went to both doctors and got the medical records. The next week, I showed my family physician how the names of the surgery suggested by the two doctors were different. She flat out lied to me and said that they were the same. She suggested I go with the first doctor and get what in reality was the more invasive, permantly debilitating surgery. Great. I walked out, and never went back to her, and really really need to write the insurance company about my experience with her.

After consulting some non-doctor associates, doing some more research on WebMD, and doing some soul-searching, thinking, I decided to follow up with the Nuerologist and his surgeon friend. A few weeks later, I had the lamenectomy and woke up from surgery feeling incredible. No more paid. The next morning, drugged, after 2 hours of surgery, I could walk up a flight of stairs and stand for like 5 minutes which was 12 times longer than I had ever stood for the past 6 months. After 2 weeks of regaining my strength, I could stand/walk for 30 minutes to an hour. I went to PT for a few months and continued on my own since, and now after 1 and 1/2 years I'm in as good a shape as ever.

Long story short: If hadn't used WebMD to look up the problems I was having with my leg/back, I probably wouldn't have gotten an MRI as soon as I did. I probably would have damaged my back further with the insane exercises my family doctor Rx'd. I probably would have gotten surgery for a condition I didn't have, a surgery which would have put me in bed for 6 weeks to 3 months instead of just 2 weeks, surgery which would have had more long term debilitating effects.

THANK YOU WebMD! I don't trust doctors any more. I know when they know more than I do. I know when I'm out of my league. But I will always do research on my own, and I will always be on the lookout for when the doctor I'm with doesn't REALLY care about or understand my condition.

Now, that said. It is time for OP to go to the doctor. I would suggest getting to a throat, nose, and ears specialist if it is possible. It is very likely that your family physician has 0 clue (or perhaps just 20% clue) about specific throat problems you might be having.

Complete suggestion from me: go to your family physician. He'll more than likely say you're fine, maybe have a cold. If you still feel bad after another week, get a referal to a throat, nose, and ears specialist. It will be easier to do since your doctor saw you the week before and prescribed you some lame-ass antibacterial medicine. Of course, it could just be a cold/infection. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I don't mean for you to be paranoid... just lookout for yourself because your doctor isn't always. I've had good experiences with WebMD, and I'm not always diagnosed with cancer. Funny joke though [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Regards,

Jason

[ilya]

I've been a hypochondriac off and on for several years, so I know how easy it is to convince yourself of the worst. And how these worries can invade and overtake your life. I have been SURE in the past that I was having a heart attack a stroke HIV symptoms throat cancer oral cancer etc....so far, I've been wrong, knock on wood. There're few things more dangerous than WebMD.com. It wouldn't hurt you to speak to a doctor for peace of mind, but really I think you need to see if you can figure out why your mind is jumping to morbid conclusions like that.

[Ulysses]

I agree w/ a lot of what you say and basically never go to a general practitioner and instead go to specialists (the past few years this has been orthopedic surgeon and podiatrist for a few sports injuries) who are recommended by friends.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

wtf is a pumple?