I am actually from Pennsylvania, but I'm at VCU for college. =)
I don't think I'm really worried about oral cancer anymore: I've had an oral cancer exam which found nothing suspicious and my CT scans show nothing abnormal other than swollen lymph nodes. Plus I'm 19, so my ENT practically laughed at me when I expressed my concerns in that area.
My oncologist also doesn't think I have cancer, but he offered me the choice of an excisional biopsy so even if it wasn't, I wouldn't have to feel them anymore and be worried. He seems to think that if this does turn out to be cancer, it's going to be lymphoma. But, as I stated in my initial post, I believe that I can feel a mass that is more than just a swollen lymph node (or nodes), but it doesn't show up on the CT scan. So I was wondering if I should assume that even though it doesn't feel normal, perhaps it is? My blood tests indicate an inflammation somewhere, so I thought that maybe what I feel isn't a mass, it's just inflamed tissue near my lymph nodes.
Oh, and apparently my oncologist thinks that if I have swollen lymph nodes on both sides of my neck and no lesion or other mass can be found in my head or neck either by physical examination or by CT scan, than this either has to be lymphoma or an infection, because if I had oral cancer with bilateral node involvement, I would be feeling something other than just nodes right now. And I can only feel two prominent nodes, one on each side of my windpipe. But apparently the swollen ones go from my submental region the whole way to my spinal accessory chain on both sides. They're not overly swollen though- the largest is in my submental region and is 1.2 cm x 6 mm (which means it's oval, and most nodes caused by cancer tend to be round in shape). I guess I'll find out when I get my biopsy what is causing them to be swollen. I'm just afraid they're cancer because they ARE painless, plus they're hard. Well, I'm not sure exactly if they're rock-hard, but they're certainly not soft or rubbery. However, my ENT told me they are mobile, which also basically rules out metastatic cancer because they tend to cause nodes to be fixed (even though I think mine are fixed, the ENT insists they're not). I just don't know- I have signs of infection, lymphoma, and metastatic cancer, so I just don't know what's going on with me anymore. I'm trying to be reassured by the fact that the oncologist clearly said I have no cancer in my head and neck (as evidenced by the CT scan and my previous mouth exams), but then I wonder what kind of a viral infection is going to cause hard, painless nodes for over four months with no other obvious symptoms?
