Hi everyone. I'm a 26 year old female, smoked for 8 years but quit cold turkey 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with HPV 2 years ago after an outbreak, but haven't had any trouble with it since.

A month ago, I found what appeared to be a small whitehead on the floor of my mouth, slightly right of center. I poked at it thinking I might be able to pop it, but that only made it angry (red and purple). So after reading about ranula, mucoceles, and blocked salivary glands, I let it be for the standard 2 weeks. Since then, I've seen it turn into a small oblong-shaped blister, pop (I never felt it pop until I saw that it had deflated), and I've seen the affected tissue seem to spread. When it's not a blister, it looks like a slightly red and white raised bump that isn't painful whatsoever. When I first noticed it, it was the size of a large grain of salt. It is now the size of a pencil eraser. It's a bit difficult to detect now that it's not an obvious blister, but I can absolutely feel a bump with my tongue and finger.

Last week, I suddenly developed a sore throat, pain in my neck muscles and right ear, and the feeling of a lump in my throat when swallowing. The sore throat is strange, not like I've ever felt with a common cold. I can only describe it as feeling like it's it's very deep in my throat and very cold. Ibuprofen and Tylenol don't help at all.

I saw my GP this morning who says it's nothing to worry about, probably a blocked salivary gland and an infection. He did note that the lymph nodes on the left side of my jaw were swollen, and remarked that it was odd given the ear pain I felt was in my right ear. I've made an appointment with an ENT one week from today.

I'm very worried. The throat/neck soreness has persisted for 6 days now without a hint of getting better and the lesion in my mouth only seems to be growing. Is it possible for symptoms to come on so strongly and so quickly like this?

Full disclosure...I've had a few health scares in recent months and willfully admit that I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. My mind always races to the worst possible scenario first. But this time, the symptoms truly fit and I am genuinely scared.