Geez Rahel:
Since I've never experienced anything like you described, I have nothing to offer except my sympathy - I have experienced, however, results/diagnoses from doctors that were pure wrong, so I sympathize with you there also. When I first had a slight swelling under my chin that was soft and didn't hurt, but disturbed me because it was there, my family doctor diagnosed it as a swollen lymph node from a sinus infection. It didn't go away, so time went by and I decided to have an ENT check it out -at my insistence, he had a needle biopsy done, which resulted in a NEGATIVE result. Time elapsed, swollen place stayed, and I noticed my right tonsil was a little red. Doctor checked it and gave me antibiotics. I still checked with my family doctor to see if he could do some tests, and nurses called me paranoid. I went to yet another ENT and demanded I have my tonsils out. Under my right tonsil was squamous-cell cancer which had spread to the left side nodes, Stage IV. Hey, then the doctors started paying attention. So, I guess being really aggresive, especially when you "feel" something's not right, is what we should do. I had 7 weeks of chemo and radiation ending in Feb '09; I still have side effects from the radiation and have great difficulty eating (swallowing). I wonder if the time that elapsed from when I first noticed the slight swelling is what elevated the SCC to Stage IV? Anyway, there's nothing that can be done now, and glad you kept after them, which shouldn't have been necessary. I hope you get replies from Forum members who have had your symptoms, and keep in touch.
julieann