Hello Friends, Terrific board you all have here. I am 22 years old... I have been dealing with a slew of health issues for the past year after a couple of oral encounters with two women which has culminated in a diagnosis of Lupus and my last major hurdle which seems to be problems with my mouth and throat which have me terribly worried... I will try to sum them up below from a post I made on another forum I have visited recently... Thanks in advance for any help you can provide...

...I need help.

I dont see the ENT until the 29th of June and Im agonizing with worry over this last of my constant symptoms. As many of you know my body has gone crazy over the past year and recently I had a loose diagnosis of Lupus and either my brain or the medicine actually seems to be doing something for the other problems.

But the last conquest I have to make is my throat and tonsils, and I fear the worst for this area because of all the agonizing and debilitating symptoms I had over the past year, I ignorned the throat problems the most... I just couldnt keep up with it all, it was like a Full time job!!!

Anyhow, the tonsils have been very swollen (about halfway into the middle but not so far to touch the uvula) for about as long as Ive had these problems. The one on the left side seems to have a more cryptlike appearance than the one on the right which is smoother. What really worries me is the one on the right also has a longish kind of red patch next to it on the adjacent tonsillar pillar which it pushes against, but the LEFT one doesnt have this anomale. Of course Ive read all the bad news about red patches in the mouth, and Im not finding anything about ANY red patch being normal!, and keep in mind this all started after two oral encounters with women over a year ago (started with very swollen glands and difficulty swallowing, treated with a wide spectrum antibiotic which did cause the lymph nodes to go down but the tonsils never did). This red patch on the tonsillar pillar is my single biggest point of worry as it is kind of elongated and follows the curvature of the tonsil next to it.

Well I didnt pay much attention to them until my newest doctor (I have moved around a few times in the past year) actually seemed a little more concerned about them then the previous doctors did just because he felt they might be causing me discomfort. Now of course Im noticing an increasing amount of throat pain, both soreness and occasional hoarse voice and general sore throat, particularly on the right side (especially when I "force" my throat muscles closed on purpose). A few times on long road trips the whole right side of my neck has even hurt!!! Ive had various occasions of tinnitus and slight ear pain a couple of times. In addition to this, the skin flap that is directly behind the uvula seems more "pulled down" on the right side behind the tonsil than it does on the left side, and I have noticed sometimes the back of my throat is red with veins in it.

At the beginning of this whole thing I did have a time where it felt like nasal stuff was going back there alot, and of course these huge tonsils have caused me to have terrible snoring and I have bad breath also. When I push hard on the hollow area beneath my adams apple it also makes me cough... But of course I fear the worst for what this could mean and Ive read that the oral contact could have something to do with it. I am only 22 years old and do not smoke or drink.

Anyone else ever had problems like this?

Ian.

Ian
I also have Lupus, becareful that they don't miss anything by putting it all on the Lupus, mine was missed for 6 months because Lupus was the easy answer.
Sunshine love and hugs
Helen

Thanks Helen,

Any insight on my symptoms? My biggest concern is the reddish area on my tonsillar pillar. I feel as if there is no hope.

Ian, try to relax until you get to see the ENT. It would be very unusual for someone your age to have oral cancer(not unheard of, but unusual) While there is a connection possibility with HPV and oral sexual contact, it would not likely result in a rapid cancer growth. I'll wager this is some kind of infection. Now that I said that, don't forget to tell the ENT that you have had these symptoms for quite a while. A biopsy is perhaps a good idea.

If it turns out to be the worst, you still have hope.

Thank you Mark. I suppose I did forget it takes time for HPV to do its dirty-work, even in Cervical cancer. Though I have to admit Ive been very very irresponsible with my oral health, and have thus created a ripe environment for bacteria and infection

I guess part of what is making this so hard on me right now is something alot of people seemingly take for granted. Most times I hear of these stories people talk about how their partner helped them through it. Its not so much my age that bothers me, but the fact that the person that I had in mind to be there for me is out of the picture now, and while I do have my family I dont know how Im supposed to face something like this possibility with a broken spirit and being alone. If I come out of this disfigured as a young guy like I am, what will my hope ever be of finding someone again? Ive read about the xerostomia and the radical neck dissection's etc... and have just about worked myself into a tizzy.

And even still, you could say I should be thankful to be in this place. In the past year I have been deathly afraid of everything from HIV at the beginning, to being completely 100 percent convinced I had pancreatic or GI cancers due to all the slew of symptoms I dealt with.

I know Im rambling, but I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Thanks again,
Ian.

pd4, get a grip on yourself, take a deep breath, and step back a bit. Mark is correct in that it would be very unusual for you to have developed oral cancer at your age, if you really don't smoke or chew or drink. Also, if by some fluke you do have it, you will not be disfigured, and the common treatment now with IMRT, radiation narrowly focused, leaves many of us with saliva, unlike just a few years ago when the radiation covered a wide area. I have known several men who have had tonsilectomies at about your age, and this, coupled with your admitted poor oral hygiene, may be what ails you. You could have lots of things other than cancer, and I would say the percentages are in your favor. If, however, you do have it, we will be here to help you. Now take another deep breath.

Ian, since I am older probably than your grandmother,and I have 2 grandchildren of my own, I will share 2 thoughts with you.#One - Try to calm down until you really know what is going on - then you will deal with it and # TWO - brush up on the SAFE SEX infomation that is readily available today. Amy

Thanks all,

Appreciate the thoughts. The irony of the whole situation is those two times were one of the very few in my life ive even done anything like that. If I had a more steady and regular personal life in that respect, I probably would not have gotten myself into those situations to begin with. I certainly havent done anything since... Im too scared Ill catch something!

My sore throats are also very strange. My throat doesnt become sore unless Im doing strenuous activity, such as driving for long periods, or if I start talking for more than 2 or 3 minutes at a time at full voice. Then my throat begins to get sore occasionally and my voice starts to get a little hoarse.

I was examining that red patch more closely last night (I usually look at it whenever I get in my car in the rearview mirror since its bright) with a powerful flashlight I have, and it seems as though the left side does in fact have some redness as well, though less pronounced than the redness on the right side.

On a scary note, I am feeling tightness in my neck and I fear it may be node related. I hope it is not.

Hello Ian,

It's not time to freak out now. As posted above step back and take a deep breath. This could me many things besides cancer. After you see the ENT
he may want to biospy it. You will than receive a pathlogy report detailing what they find.
"It ain't cancer til they tell you it's cancer"

Keep us posted after your visit on the 29th.

All my Best, Danny Boy

Thanks DB... I appreciate your words of encouragement.

Heres a question... I am beating myself up also because my original appt. was for June 8th and I was out of town so I wasnt able to make it.

Do you think a major change could occur in those 21 days that would change its stage because I waited if in fact I do have something?

BTW... I took some pictures if any doctors or dentists want to weigh in.

Ian,

I'm a dentist and I can tell you that it would be almost impossible to tell you anything from a photograph, nor would it be a good idea for me or anyone to do so.

You would be amazed at how different cancers look and nothing is better than getting a biopsy to find out what it is.

Good luck with your visit to the ENT on Wed. and let us know what is going on.

Jerry

Hi Jerry...

Thanks for the advice. I noticed with your SCC they also removed 30 lymph nodes and it was still considered stage 1. I am pretty worried right now because my neck and shoulders are bothering me quite a bit but I still cant see anything. Were the nodes removed in your case just as a preventitive measure?

I guess another question, I know I mentioned sore throats and hoarse voice... A reddish patch next to my tonsil most suredly would not be responsible for all that but I imagine it could have spread from further down? So confused with this whole thing. Its so hard not to spend my time dwelling on this. As if to make the situation even more confusing, after taking a closer look at the pictures I took and looking in the mirror under bright light it seems the left side isnt much different than the right after all, its just the redness on the right side seems to be slightly more defined at the edges than the redness on the left side.

I guess Ill see what happens on wednesday. There is nothing like thinking that as of Wednesday, my life could change forever. Its like the difference between B.C. and A.D.

Ian, you are doing the sensible thing by following up with a specialist. He/she worked hard and long for that medical degree and I think you can trust them. If not, you can always get a second opinion. If you are really concerned that the throat problem has something to do with your sexual encounter may consulting a sexual health specialist would be a good idea. I worked with a girl once who got an STD (Ithink it was gonnoreah) in her throat. She had a week in hospital and we all visited her. No one in our office had heard of catching it in your throat before that. I truly wish you well and hope that it gets fixed soon. I had chronic tonsillitis myself, for no less than 6 years as the G.P. did not believe in rushing into tonsillectomy. I had them out at 17 and never looked back. Tonsillitis is pretty gruesome to look at and hellish painful. Take care, try to relax, be kind to yourself, and find a doctor that you can trust.

Well I went to the ENT today...

He looked at my Anterior Pillar and Posterior Pillar and said he didnt see they were unusual at all. Looked all in my throat, said my tonsils were big but people sometimes have big tonsils and if they arent causing me pain or difficulty to leave them alone.

Then he stuck that scope down my nose and into my throat and said everything looked ok down my throat. I was in such a daze and tizzy I forgot to ask about the tightness in my neck and neck pain but I guess Ill have to keep an eye on it and see what happens.

I kept feeling like asking him to do more, but the truth is at least in the office, looking and inspecting and feeling around is all he can do, so I suppose thats that for now.

Thanks everyone.

Ian, I am happy for your clean check. The tightness and pain in the neck is very possibly caused by the stress of this worry. Try your best to put this whole idea of cancer out of your mind. In a couple of days you might be surprised that the pain and tightness just go away.

Thanks Mark,

I still have a little discomfort. I guess at this point what primarily worries me is that I noticed that the red patch on my tonsillar pillar (posterior) when under BRIGHT direct light like at the ENT's office, it blends in with the rest of the skin around it, BUT if I look at it in LOW light, like for example in fluorescent light or in the rearview mirror of my car, it is clearly redder than the rest of skin around it. I dont know what to make of that.

Ian if there was a problem I am sure the ENT would have seen it when he scoped your throat. They look for lots of things other then color such as changes in tissue.
You don't want cancer. You can trust me on that one also. Now that your tests looked fine go out and enjoy your life and thank God you didn't have it.

Blessings and peace,
Barbara~

Thanks Barb,

Your kind words are certainly reassuring. I will probably have to go back and see him or another ENT regardless because I am still suffering from the Tinnitus in both my ears, and the most disturbing symptom, which is a dull moderate pain that radiates from my jaw all the way down through my neck muscles and into the right side of my chest at various intervals during the day. This ONLY happens on the right side. The other day it was bad enough to give me a headache.

My worry is that this pain could be lymph nodes enlarging and pressing against arteries or nerves... Who knows, the brain can come up with many scenarios but its not going away on its own

Well I went ahead and set-up a follow-up appointment with my ENT, or I should say I called their office and left a message to set one up.

I simply can not ignore this. I had a coworker look in my mouth and she said she doesnt know what shes looking at but she sees one side is redder than the other and thats just not cool in my book.

NOTHING in Medical literature I have been digging up says that reddish tissue on the tonsillar pillar is anything but BAD NEWS. Dysplasia at best, SCC at worst is what Im reading. Even on this site that Brian has put together the Cancer exam instructions on this site say that redness on the tonsillar pillars should be noted.

So Im going to go back when my appointment is set and ask for a Biopsy of the pillar, I figure it cant be that bad and its worth it to either put my mind at ease or get started with treatment. I hate to say it but I got a good feeling if it IS CA that its gonna be pretty late stage, because its not just the redness on the Pillar, its the ongoing slight hoarseness in my voice, the enlarged tonsils (the right one seems to have a tiny polyp on it now), ringing in my right ear getting worse, the pain in my neck which I attribute to lymph nodes etc etc...

I think It would be irresponsible of me to let it go...

What bothers me is my ENT was highly recommended by several people, friends and other doctors, and he thought nothing of this redness when he looked in there. He also put that thing down my nose and looked in my throat and said my vocal cords were fine. Moreover when you shine BRIGHT light on it, it doesnt look very red, but if you have a low light source it REALLY stands out from the other tissue. So I think maybe it "hid" from him when he shined his equipment light on it. The other thing I dont get it is I dont drink or smoke, and I dont understand how HPV would have caused so much damage in a year and a half.

I hate this because everything I read is disturbing for me now. I was reading through the archives and read the story of a poor guy on this forum (I wont name him out of respect) who was only a STAGE I at dx and died a year later!! These neoplasms are supposed to be more aggressive in us youngsters so what kind of hope is that supposed to leave me with.

Yea Im screwed, and im only 22 Im so frustrated right now. I started out a year and a half ago with tons of vague symptoms and thought I had everything from HIV to Panc Cancer in the time that has since passed. One of my initial thoughts was Lupus and it took them a year to find that. Then I finally got that under control and now this crap. In retrospect HIV would have been a blessing compared to what this might be.

Waiting is the hard part. You sit around and think of all of terrible things it could be. Talk to your doctor and tell him your fears. Get a second opinion if it will make you feel better and then try to put all of this behind you.

Youngster
Your imagination is running riot with you!
Please stop reading all this STUFF until you get a handle on what is going on with you . You are scaring yourself SILLY!
Please,, just do what you have to to make yourself feel better but you are not "screwed", a bit screwed up maybe, but not "screwed".

Marica

Perhaps we should have a section for hypochondriacs
Helen