Both my cancer diagnoses were preceded by a voice change, as in getting lower and hoarse. Took three or 4 months before actual cancer found, both times by me. The first one was a lump in the neck with an unknown primary. The second time round was 4 years to the date when I swallowed a Centrum pill and felt pain. When it happened again the next day, I called the doctor who scoped me and found a tiny tumor. I has just been scoped 3 weeks earlier by my surgeon who congratulated me on my 4 year survival. This tumor was hiding in a fold in the laryx and had to grow just a little more to be visible.

As Gary says, most the time you need to rely on the profressionals, but don't ignore symptoms either. But I can also remember freaking out when I was on vacation in Belgium. I looked in one of the marvelous magnifying shaving mirrors they have to discover I had what looked like a huge growth on the back of my tongue. It was simply just one of those taste buds that go across the back of the tongue. Thank God I decided to ignore the problem until I got home.

Take care,
Eileen