Hi. I was wondering if anyone could advise me. I found a hard lump in my neck a few months ago and put it down to feeling run down. I had been really tired and suffering with headaches and had problems with my hands and toes swelling and extremely dry cracked skin on my finger tips. The gp suspected scleroderma and referred me to neurology but this was later cancelled due to the lockdown.
When the lump didn’t go down I went back to my gp to ask him to look at it. He seemed a little concerned and referred me for a two week appointment with ENT. Blood tests the following day care back normal and ruled out infection.
I received my ENT appointment on Thursday to go on Tuesday next week. The letter stated that after seeing the consultant I may need to have a scan and biopsy the same day.
Yesterday I received a phone call from the consultants secretary saying that due to the pandemic my consultation would now be conducted over the phone.
Can anyone advise me please? I am so anxious about now not being seen and a potential problem not being diagnosed correctly. I heard in the news last week that cancer doctors were concerned that people weren’t going to get problems looked at because of fear of going to a hospital during this awful time and that two week referrals were reduced because of this. But, here I am really worried about this lump, feeling completely drained and now worried sick about not being seen.
Can anyone advise me?
Thank you.
Hi and welcome to the Online Community a place you most likely would have never wanted to find.
You have received a great first hand experience answer from Buttercup19 and I think it’s very reassuring.
I do wonder if this will be a sign of how things will be done in the future - time will tell.
It is now important for you to take some time and make up two lists.
The first has all the medical challenges you are experiencing including your mental state relating to the dress and tiredness you have been experiencing.
The second list is your questions about what will happen next.... when, where and what.
Can I also highly recommend our various Macmillan Support Line Services - you can call them free on 0808 808 00 00 This service covers Emotional Support and Practical Information mostly open 9.00 to 5.00 but check the link but you may find the service very busy at the moment.
All the best.
I have deliberately not signposted you to any of our groups as this truly could be anything so let’s deal with this one step, one day at a time.
We are always around to help you navigate this as you find out more.
Hi again I would always advise that you take someone with you to appointments, you can still do this by putting the call on speaker but remember to tell the Consultant that someone else is listening in.
Why have someone with you? They are the extra set of ears and will most likely pick up more than you will as your mind will be in whirlwind mode. They can also keep notes and prompt you to make sure you go through the questions you will have made notes about.
Very often these initial appointments lead to further appointments for a biopsy. I have now talked with a few folks who had the I initial phone call and have been asked back for biopsies and this in fact made the process quicker.
Do come back once you have had the call and we can talk further.
