Hi I'm Leigh, 42 female. I'm pleased to have found this site. I've spent the last 6 days crying, not eating, most worried & scared I've ever felt. I went to my GP last Weds because of a "sore" throat and ear on one side along w/ a slightly enlarged painless node. Throat & ear are not painful really but a nagging ache when I swallow saliva. Doesn't hurt swallowing food or drinks. I almost can't tell if it's my ear or throat or both....My tongue on the side in the back feels dry in one spot at night right where I feel the nagging little ache. It's very localized to me. Not like a normal sore throat more like a sore spot. I thought she'd say I had an infection but she found nothing. She looked very scared and kept asking if I ever smoked, drank heavily or been exposed to radiation. no, no and no. (I did have half my thyroid removed in 2008 on that side-thought nodules were cancerous but they were not). She gave me the name of an ENT and said she'd send my records straight over. My appt with the ENT is tomorrow. She (my internist) literally scared me half to death. I've cried every day ever sense. The last week has been like a nightmare for me. I want to go to sleep and just sleep until this is over (however, I dream and think about this even in my sleep). Every search I've made points to the C word. I'm crying as I type. Please talk me down. What should I expect tomorrow? How bad is the scope I expect? What do I ask? I've made the horrible mistake of searching the net with the symptoms and it's all bad. I'm so afraid. Please calm me down. I have no one to talk to. My husband has told me it'll be fine but he doesn't really grasp the fear that has taken me over.