Good evening all.
Where to start? Mid-way through September, my delightful cherub of a daughter decided to bring home a nasty viral bug! Great aren't they! Me and my wife practically came down with it the same hour following day. Horrendous sinus congestion, cough and absolutely shattered. I troopered through though.
I think I got over it! But then woke up on the 5th October with a runny nose and persistent cough again. I was convinced it was Covid - and what's worse, I had a charity spinathon that morning. I tested to make sure it wasn't Covid and persisted. Unfortunately- that knocked the stuffing out of me. I had a really bad sinus infection, lost my voice for a couple of days - had persistent hoarseness for a week and felt like absolute death.
Towards the end of October - I was recovered for the most part but could tell my body was still recovering. It was at that point (21st) I felt the lump in my neck.
I had half-term with the kids and rang the GP to just query the lump. They said it was very normal following a period of illness and to give them a bell back in a couple weeks if it hadn't returned to normal.
I still felt a bit low and kept my head down to try and recover.
Towards the end of the first week of November, I woke up with a really stiff neck, and my gland had swollen out my neck like a golfball. I had a persistent headache and earache for a couple of days, and a very stiff neck. Similar feeling to when I've been ill with a sinus infection before.
I went back through to the GP on the 13th and I'd also had some smelly and cloudy urine - so they recommended a course of antibiotics which I took. They advised if after the antibiotics - the lymphnode was still present, they would put me on an urgent referral. I had blood tests done which all came back great. I had some congestion that week but felt like I was 'better'.
Fast forward to the 19th and the antibiotics had seemingly reduced some swelling, but the lymphnode remained sizeable and very hard/rubbery. So they put me through on the referral..
I instantly made the mistake of then going to Google to understand why it was an urgent referral.. and I spiralled - hard. I got myself into a right mess that week.
The antibiotics had absolutely ruined my gut! I couldn't put food in without it instantly bloating me - and then I'd sit massaging wind out for hours.. (this has happened through my life with antibiotics)! Combined with what I'd read on Google - I completely lost my appetite and didn't eat for a couple of days. This of course made me very unwell.. and I also dropped weight fast which fed into the cancer narrative.
On the 24th I woke up with congestion again. I always get it in the back of my sinuses (my nose never gets blocked but it's usually full of ***!) This was causing thick, slimy mucus in my throat and I was having to yack it up. Anyway - fast forward and I the GP asked me for a sputum sample which they confirmed this week was bacterial infection.. the GP I spoke to on Friday told me this could be an infection caused because I didn't need antibiotics in mid-November but here we are.
The GP wanted me to to for a chest x-ray this week and I got the results Friday that all was clear. But still yacking up toffee phlegm through the day!
It's been difficult to know what's a genuine symptom, what I'm causing myself through stress and anxiety - and what's due to my body fighting another infection. I feel like I've lost a lot of weight this past 3 weeks, but the scales suggest it's only a 3.5lb loss! Beyond that - I've been tired, but definitely not fatigued!
I have my ENT referral on Tuesday and I'm absolutely terrified.
