How very true, Elianne. In late November 2007, while playing around with a new blood pressure machine put in our break room at work, and while checking pulse rates, I accidently found a very small swollen place under my jaw on my throat. It didn't hurt, and I would never have noticed it if it weren't for feeling for a pulse in that area. You couldn't see it in the mirror, it was so small. However, I thought I should have it checked by my general practitioner. He did, and said it was a swollen lymph node from a sinus infection, and gave me antibiotics. After about two weeks, it was still there, but hadn't changed. I called the GP, and his nurse told me I was being paranoid and not to worry - she had them all the time. Several weeks later, it still bothered me, so I went to an ENT on my own, who did a needle biopsy and a scan of my throat. All the scan showed was my tonsils were slightly swollen, which was caused from a slight infection; the needle biopsy came back NEGATIVE. He said we should just watch the swollen place to see if it went down. I went on vacation, but the entire time, I still had a feeling something wasn't right. After two more weeks, and on my return home, I decided to go to another ENT for a second opinion. He agreed I probably had a tonsil infection and that I should probably have my tonsils removed, which I did. Guess what? Stage 4 squamous-cell cancer underneath and spread to other nodes. And that is "the rest of the story." So, be very proud of your determination and pushing. Good luck to you and Gordon. Sounds like your "gut instinct" deserves a lot of praise. I think you saved Gorden's life, along with the surgeon.
julieann
julieann