Apparently I don't quite meet the criteria for the two week turnaround or the shit we think you have cancer turnaround but

[travellingwilbury]

I am freaking out , I have had a weird feeling in my throat for weeks now and today got the courage together to go and speak to the dr about it .

She wants me to have a camera put down to see what is going on but as I don't quite meet the quick turnaround she doesn't know how long it will take .

I have no pain but I know something is wrong .

It has however gave me the push I needed to stop bloody smoking , I am an idiot .

lucjam I have googled it , and I am not sure if it fits tbh . It feels swollen on the right hand side of my neck as well , does that sound typical to you ? I am obviously not of a calm enough mind atm to make a sane judgement .

Hystericus feels pretty close to how I feel now though , before monday ? Not so much .

Have eventually spoken to the grumpy nurse , who informed me that if anything was wrong then the dr would have contacted me . The fact the dr isn't in today is beside the point apparently .

But the good news is they are normal , and I asked about the white blood cell count (is that the correct one ? I think so )

Thank you Shiney , yes it is , hopefully will get the next bit done quickly and then I can go back to being a normal human and not an uptight grumpy one .

When I gave up I was REALLY frightened that I had started to get COPD as I felt breathless and I had a cough. Being scared shitless that you have a horrible smoking related disease is a great motivator to stop!

If you want to stop check out this website which helped me. I have done a month and a half cold turkey after being a 20 pack year smoker.

whyquit

Since stopping, I now feel fine and loads of other problems have cleared up for me too such as my arthritic knee, (who knew arthritis can be caused by smoking? But a quick google shows it's implicated in 50% of cases). I can't recommend it enough. Stop killing yourself slowly and your throat thing will go away too.

Good luck, you can do it :)

Well done framey I am trying honest but tbh at the minute I am such a wreck .

I have got this appt on monday and my lovely gp has signed me off work till tuesday , I am just so worked up and stressed I just don't know how I am going to get through the next few days . It is feeling worse and my dh can actually see the swelling now which he couldn't before .

Feeling verily pissed off squire !

Sorry to hear you're in a bad place. I felt terrified too when I thought I had COPD, it's very isolating. Smoking fear is the worst kind of health anxiety because it's based entirely in fact!

As for giving up...
It's not easy but I think the hardest part is really making the decision to stop. After that you get through it because you WANT to stop smoking.

I gave up because I didn't want to die but since giving up I've found that the best part is living- free from the addiction. Unexpected benefits every day.
I smoked for 20 years and I thought I loved it but really smoking is not that great and there is life after it.

Good luck with your appointment.

Just an update to let you all know how it went .

It went well

Camera up the nose was interesting and odd but not that bad .
The consultant was really lovely and I trusted him which is a pretty big thing for me . He told me he really really doesn't think it is cancer

He has given me meds for reflux and he thinks my muscles are going into spasm because of the cigarettes so the time has come to say goodbye to them . I am ready to do it now and I will do it !

I have to go back and have an ultrasound and then see him again but not for a couple of months .

Thank you everyone for the hand holding .

Hooray!
Now take your chance to stop.
You don't know how many more you'll get!

Good luck with it, get through the first 3 days and you've done it.
Believe me, if I can do it anyone can. I didn't think life was worth living without fags but just 8 weeks on and I hardly think about them.
You can do it

There y'go!! Good news.

And, good luck with stopping - it definitely gets better fast after the first few days, apart from odd moments when those cravings suddenly sneak back to try and catch you off guard. I found imagining cravings as a separate entity, a la Alan Carr, really helped me not listen to them....just remember the more you feed them (fags) the bigger and stronger they get, greedy things. Ignore 'em, and they shrivel and die.

Unlike you, who will start to dream in technicolour, have pinker clearer skin, and smell gorgeous

Just seen this - so glad it is good news.