Hi everyone,

I am a huge hypochondriac so please excuse my coming here without actually having a diagnosis. I am just so scared out of my skin at the moment that I need a place to express my fears, and to get some opinions on them.

For a week now, I feel a longish hard lump like structure under my chin, left side. It does not hurt, and it seems to already have grown during these days. It is about 2.5cm long (following the jawbone) and 1cm across. I can easily move it from behind the jawbone to the front, and then it naturally pops back, but since it is swollen it kind of 'hangs down' under the jawbone at the moment.

I am very worried about this because for over a month now, I have had the feeling of pressure in my neck (though on the right side), and one of my tonsils looks bigger than the other. I have been to a family doctor who looked at my tonsil and said that one looked slightly irregular, but not to worry. I stressed that I wanted a ENT specialist to look at it, and he gave me a referral, but this will only be in three weeks (!).

I know that 'sometimes a lump is just a lump', but this thing under my jaw is scaring the hell out of me. Its really big, and now I think I either have a cancer of the salivary gland, or a cancer somewhere else in my oral region that has already spread to my lymph nodes....

Should I press for an earlier appointment with the specialist? I feel like valuable time is wasted here....

Oh, and I am only 28 years old....how are survival rates for this type of cancer? I don't want to die