I thought it was time for me to do a blog about my Cancer story. It might resonate with others. Written 14.1.2021
At the beginning of October 2020, I noticed what I thought was a sore throat on the left side. I thought I might get a cold as that's how they usually start, but it felt "different". Friends said, "it's a blocked salivary gland, a cyst, an infection, GERD - but definitely not Cancer."
After worrying about it for 3 weeks, I rang the surgery but the GP said she couldn't see me until I'd had a Covid test. So, I had to get one through the post, do it myself, which was awful because of my throat hurting and then wait until the result came through.
It came back negative and my throat was hurting more so I rang again and spoke to another GP. I told her I thought it might be throat Cancer so she saw me that afternoon and took a swab from my throat, palpated my neck, arranged for a blood test and gave me a flu jab.
When the tests came back negative, the doctor prescribed me a course of antibiotics, which didn't help and that took ANOTHER week.
After that, I rang the surgery again and spoke to a THIRD GP and convinced HIM that I really thought it could be Cancer. He said in that case he would refer me to the hospital.
Within a week, I had an appointment with a consultant at ENT and she put a camera down my throat but said she could only see inflammation. Because of my difficulty in swallowing and the feeling of having something in my throat, she booked me to have a panendoscopy the following week. By that stage, it was hurting when I yawned and I was also getting earache. By this time, it was almost 7 weeks from the first pain.
When I came round from the operation (with biopsy taken), the consultant came to my bedside and just said, "I'm sorry." I knew then, before the results of the biopsy came back, that it was Cancer. She said the lump at the back of my tongue was hard and she'd never seen anything like it that wasn't bad news. The consultant said she would be away for 2 weeks so I contacted my private insurance to see if I could a quicker diagnosis and more information. That private consultant (who also works for the hospital) explained what I had, how the doctors would proceed with treatment and answered other questions I had.
The next blog will be what happened next.
