Hi everyone, I'm at my wit's end with fear and can't focus on anything but what's going on. I have no diagnosis of cancer but I'm terrified I could have it. So I apologise in advance for posting here, I just wanted to speak with people who are or have been in a similar situation. Also, sorry for this post being rather long.

I'm a 34 year old female (smoker) and have had a sore throat for 7 weeks and it feels like there is something in my throat, almost like a golf ball or something like that is stuck in it. I don't have issues with swallowing food, that sort of seems to relieve it. But if I try to swallow any pills that's a totally different story; it feels like they get stuck in my throat. I feel I have to clear my throat a lot aswell, almost like there's a collection of gunk. I have a hoarse voice too, which is particularly bad when I first wake up, it gets better throughout the day but does come back through the day. My glands are also swollen in my neck. There's one to the left of my neck under my jaw that's particularly concerning me; when I tilt my head to the left I can see it. I also have them at the sides of my neck too just down from my ears. I've also been getting headaches every day for the last couple of weeks and the back of my neck feels very stiff.

After two weeks of having the sore throat I had a phone consultation with an advanced nurse practitioner (I think that was her title, I can't quite remember) and was prescribed amoxicillin. That did nothing and a couple of weeks after finishing those I had a face to face consultation with the same lady. She felt my neck and said my glands were up and had a look at my throat and said it looked all red and irritated. She asked if I had heartburn and I said not really, just the odd fleeting sensation of it on the odd occasion and when I had that it would last no more than about 30-60seconds. She then said if it was reflux the irritation to the throat would be lower down at a non-visible area, not as high up as where my irritation is. She prescribed me Doxycycline. Finished that last Wednesday and it made no difference at all. Spoke with a doctor that same day and got booked in for blood tests the same day and arranged a chest x-ray (had that done Monday just passed). She also prescribed me lanzoprazole for silent reflux.

The doctor phoned me yesterday and said my blood tests came back all normal so she's not concerned about the swollen glands (but I know blood tests don't show certain things, like lymphoma) and she said she's expecting my x-ray results on Friday but doesn't think anything will show on that and so she will be sending an urgent referral to ENT, she said its likely they'll put a camera down my throat to look at my voice box. She also asked if the lanzoprazole has helped my throat and I said no. 

I have stupidly been googling for the last week and everything that's coming up is cancer and it's terrified me, it's all I can think about. What keeps popping up in my head is the advanced nurse saying you wouldn't be able to see irritation that high up in my throat if it was reflux and the GP saying she was making an urgent referral, the word urgent has really freaked me out! 

When I speak to my partner about it he tells me to stop presuming the worst and everything could be ok. My response to this is yes that's true, but it might not be ok. I feel so frustrated, I feel like I can't talk about my concerns as they immediately get show down. I guess that's why I'm posting here. 

I'm 2 weeks into my final year of my biomedical science degree and already have a lot of work to be doing but I can't focus on it. I feel consumed with fear and can't stop thinking about all my symptoms being something sinister.

If anyone has had similar symptoms/situations please can you talk to me about it and any advice that has helped you to try and put the worries aside so you can get on with everyday life.

Thank you,

S