Hello everyone,

I'm new here. I'm just looking for some advice. Some background history:

1) About 2+ years ago, I noticed two small pea sized lymph nodes on bilateral sides of neck. Both were firm but mobile. I went to an ENT, he felt it and said that it was nothing to worry about. He even said everyone in his office would say the same thing.

2) A year after that, I noticed they were a bit bigger. The one on the left side actually had a new smaller one, barely palpable, right above it. I schedule another visit to the ENT, but I decide to see a new guy. In this time, I also found new hardened lymph nodes under the chin. The new guy does an ultrasound and says they are all under 1 cm, mobile, and look fine on the ultrasound. He also said that real cancerous lymph nodes would feel like granite, and mine seems spongy to him. I disagreed on that one. But, he said, let's wait and see if they grow.

3) I decide to get a third opinion. I see another ENT, and he listens, feels up my lymph nodes, scopes me, and says he can feel them all. In his mind, he thinks they are 1-2 cm, and in fact, we can both see one small lump if I turn my head and push it out with my muscle. So, he schedules me for surgery to do an excisional biopsy of the one we can see.

4) It's removed and sent to pathology. The path report comes back and the histology says the lymph node is 0.9cm, and histologically is viral lymphadenopathy. So, good news! ENT schedules 6 month follow ups.

5) I went to my 6 month, ENT feels me up, says everything looks good. However, I told him I started spitting up blood a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure if it was caused by my acid reflux. But, I changed my sleeping posture, and acid reflux dies down, and no more blood. But, I tell him I often taste blood, even though I no longer see dark red blood streaks in my spit. He doesn't think anything of it.

6) About a month after my 6 month follow up, I find a new, small enlarged lymph node under my chin area. It's next to the two larger ones I found a year ago. I thought I should bring it up to the ENT on my next visit in Dec. It doesn't seem to be worrisome. However, what does seem worrisome is this:

About a month ago, I started seeing blood streaks in my spit again. It happened after I ate some rough toasted sourdough bread. I kinda freaked out about it, and I started getting a little anxious. Then, I decided to change up my sleep position since I thought it could be related to my acid reflux since it was acting up again. I did that, and after a few days, the blood started disappearing from my spit. I could still taste blood, but I couldn't see the dark, obvious blood streaks there. So, I decided to forget about it and mention it at my Dec follow up. However, today, I ate another rough toasted sandwich, and I started tasting blood again. I spat in the sink and saw streaks of blood in my spit again. I'm really concerned now.

I've read from others who had oropharyngeal cancer that the cancers bled easily. Especially on palpitation. I can't figure out where the bleeding is coming from, but I think I will eat some toasted sourdough before my next ENT visit to show him and maybe he'll see the bleeding on the scope. But, I think the guy is old school and thinks you actually need to see a tumor to know there is cancer. I know, however, that these HPV tumors can be really small and hidden to scopes. So, now I'm wondering what I should do. I'm pretty sure my next scope will be clear, since I can look way back there with a dental mirror and flash light. I don't see any visible tumors. Would a CT scan show any small tumors? And, do you guys think it's normal to spit up blood after eating something rough like toasted sourdough sandwiches? Or is this really abnormal? The bleeding typically stops after half an hour. But, I can still taste that iron bloody taste back there.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. I'm just trying to figure out what my next steps are besides rescheduling a new visit. Maybe I should consult an oncological ENT.