Greetings all -- great to find this board to air my fears and get some information.

I am 48, smoked < 1 pack per day for 23 years, quit a few months ago. Used to be a pretty good drinker, but quit 10 years ago. Only have caffeine left as a vice

Went to ENT for sinus problems, and bad post nasal drip. I have constant muscular neck pain, due to fibromyalgia. ENT did the scope test and said everything looked good. He said that the back of my tongue was "alittle large", so sent me for CT scan. CT showed some "soft tissue enlargement", according to him, so he sent me for PET scan, which I had yesterday. I read the CT report, which showed soft tissue mass < 1cm on both the right and left sides of the tongue base. No lymphadenopathy.

I am frankly at wits end. I was laid off in December, and the stress from that has been substantial, which causes a lot of tightness in my neck and shoulders, which starts a vicious cycle of worry. I am scared to death about a cancer diagnosis, although it is probably more the waiting for the results than anything.

Any input you all can give would really be appreciated.

Thanks.

Jeff

Jeff,
If I were you I would immediately get some medications for anxiety. All of the worry in the world isn't going to change anything and it may work against you in messing up your immune system and your bodies ability to fight disease. It's been said by many here that it's not cancer until the biopsy results are in. Not that all of us haven't been scared to death by the initial findings. I personally fainted when they told me the news. But then you must pick yourself up, put on your boxing gloves and get into the fight. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. They still don't know what it is and scans are just a little piece of the data. It could be benign or something other than cancer. If it is cancer it's pretty small and highly treatable. Like you've mentioned it's the fear of the unknown that is the absolute worst. We are here for you. We will walk you through this - you don't have to do this alone.

Make sure that you COBRA your medical insurance. This is not the time to let it lapse.

Hi Jeff,
As Gary said, "it isn't cancer til the biopsy SAYS it's cancer", but we all know the anxiety of waiting for those results. We are in your corner and pulling for you. PLEASE stick with your health insurance. I had to go this alone as COBRA had expired and insurance was prohibitive due to prior cancer.
Please take a deep breath, take one day at a time and remember that worry won't change anything but make you sick, OK? You won't be alone!
God bless
Judy U

Thanks for the support all. Yeah, I have COBRA ready to go, and have a new consulting gig starting on Monday, so that aspect of my life is shaping up.

I just started Lexapro for anxiety/panic disorder, but it hasn't really kicked in yet. Every time the phone rings, I get this sinking feeling in my stomach. Nuts, huh?

I'm a little more fragile these days anyway, as today is the three year anniversary of my Dad's death. He lived with us,and was my best friend on the planet. Lung cancer got him. Going to visit the cemetery today, and put that whole thing in perspective.

Thanks for all of the support. You folks are an inspiration.

Jeff

Jeff....Lexapro, like many selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, may take a month or two to kick in and for you to feel the effects of it. Give it time, starting out with low doses, because as your body adjusts to it, it can bring on some hellatious headaches in the first few weeks if you increase the dosage too quickly. This stuff is currently FDA approved as an anti depressant, but most people don't know that the manufacturer has a second submission in clinical trials to actually be able to label and sell it as and anti-anxiety drug. But remember that like all things related to this cancer and especially recovery, it takes time...nothing happens overnight. And by the way, don't think that what you are feeling is in anyway unique, everyone that fights this battle, and everyone who survives it has anxiety about what is going on and even after treatments, "Is it going to come back?" If you were not having these feelings I would think there is something abnormal about you.....