Hi Trese,

Manuka honey really is a great thing to try. It works on all sorts of things. Maybe that will get your tongue to return to a normal color. My tongue gets a bit of a white-ish cast when I'm dehydrated. Very few of us drink enough water. Might be worth a try.

I'm worried about your ear pain you mentioned in your other post and the swollen lymph node. Cancer doesn't always show up on the surface. Many times it is deep inside the tonsils, or other tissues and structures.

Here's the process we went through.

My ex-husband's only symptom was a swollen lymph node. His general practitioner ordered an ultrasound which told her it looked cystic. The next thing she did was ordered a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA). The FNA was negative. He was referred to an ENT. He prescribed antibiotics which caused a big downward spiral in his health--but was NOT indicative that he had cancer. He had an MRI at the end of the month he was sick. When he recovered, the ENT did a biopsy of the lymph node. Then he had a PET scan. Had he not been misdiagnosed with having cancer, it would have ended there.

When you are scared and worried, it occupies your thoughts every waking minute. I wish I could say something that would ease your mind. The only thing I can recommend is to get in to see the best ENT to whom you have access. And, if you get a cancer diagnosis, then seek a second opinion from a CCC.

However, if you get an opinion that says you are cancer-free...rejoice! Virtually every single person on this forum who has been diagnosed with cancer or cares for a patient would have loved to hear the words, "negative for cancer."...myself included. It rips your life apart. You have no alternative but to learn how to deal with a "new normal." I can't tell you the depth of my hatred for those words. The "new normal" involves a life-time of side-effects...if you are lucky.

You can bring an illness onto yourself by worrying too much. And, you can waste precious time that can be spent living and being happy. A misdiagnosis cost me nearly a year of worrying. A diagnosis costs people a life-time of it--worrying if the next scan will be positive, worrying that it will come back, etc. Sometimes the best gift we can give ourselves is the strength to quiet our fears and not give in to worry. At some point, you will need to trust what a doctor tells you. With good reason, I know very well how difficult it is to trust what a doctor says. But, at some point I had to trust.

From my experience with OC, I learned to escape the fear and worry by going to my "happy place". It really helped me and got me through 5 months of waiting for a final diagnosis. At that point it would have only gone one of two ways...cancer-free or terminal. I spent a lot of time in my "happy place"! It can help you escape a little until you get to see the next doctor.

Sending special thoughts out to you for peace, health, and great happiness.

Sandy
xoxox