Handhold please I can't think straight

[Mammaaof]

I don't know if I need advice or just to talk. So my partner had a feeling of a lump in this throat, feels like something stuck in his throat, can't lay down, since the start of December, I thought it was anxiety to be honest 😓 from then it's got progressively worse, with symptoms then getting worse, sore throat (which the Dr comment on) now in the past 2 weeks has developed really bad ear pain, he says it's like shooting pain. And he's really weak. I can see he's not well and I must add he absolutely never complains and always thinks I'm the dramatic one.
He went to the Dr who referred him for a barrium swallow scan, which he went for this morning, I waited in the car. He came back upset as there was a massive screen where you can see the scan happening and he could see two lumps in his throat so he asked the radiographer what that was and she said "I'd prefer not to tell you, but you will probably need more tests" and when he asked how long for results was told they would be Friday at the latest, but I rang yesterday to see how long results were taking and they told me 3 weeks or longer.
Honestly I can't stop crying, shaking, I've two young children, I can't function properly, he's gone back to bed for a sleep now. Honesty I know I need to wait for results but I just can't even get my head around all this. He is only 27. I don't really know what I want from this thread 😓 I'm sorry for waffling x

^ many years ago, not man.

@CarrieMoonbeams oh thank you for that you made me laugh 😂 I do think it's a bit silly to let people see procedures being done it's the same with a magic eye, I'm not a doctor and I don't know if the lump that he saw was meant to be there or not 🥺 I'm awaiting a call back from the doctor as his ear pain has gotten so bad whether they will see him again or maybe they will want to wait for scan results before d

Aw op, obviously no-one can tell you this is going to be ok and not to worry - but, my daughter has had lots of tests for an ongoing issue. Every.single.time she has one I'm convinced she's got cancer - I over-analyse every word the medics have said, if the results are due back quickly I panic it's bad news - but then, if they're late I panic it's bad news 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Once she went for a camera in her bladder and when she came round the nurse said she might notice some bleeding because they did a biopsy and the consultant would discuss it further with her. We weren't expecting her to have a biopsy so obviously then panicked that they'd found something - as it happens, she hadn't had a biopsy at all, I've no idea what happened to the communication that day 🤷🏻‍♀️

The last time I had a smear the nurse talked at length after she'd done the smear not to panic if the results came back saying it needed to be investigated further - I immediately though she must've seen something when doing the smear - she hadn't, I'm fine.

What I'm trying to say, and really I know there's little point because I've been in your position many times and nothing would silence the worry, but anyway, medics sometimes are clumsy in how they phrase things - for them it's routine so they often don't think about how their words will be analysed, often it doesn't mean anything. I'm assuming your DH doesn't know what his throat looks like normally, so what he thinks is abnormal may not be. Try to not let this consume you - he's young and I assume otherwise healthy? The odds are most definitely in your favour

Fwiw, when I was pregnant I had exactly the sensation you describe in my throat for a fair while, turned out to be oral thrush brought on by asthma inhaler.

Oh you poor thing. It's so worrying but then radiographer is not allowed to tell you anything, even if there was nothing there (which might well be the case) they are not allowed to tell you, that is up to the consultant/GP.

I work in cancer services and if he ha s been referred under the 2 week pathway the results will not take months, they will be within 2 weeks. Even if it is the worst case, at least it has been picked up and a treatment plan can be made. We get hundreds of referrals on the 2 week pathway and loads of them are nothing.

I know it's hard but try not to worry

I'm waiting for test results myself, I had an ECG the other day. The nurse told me I had had a mini heart attack and sent me away. I was a mess, crying, shaking. I called Gp following day to ask about it he checked the report and said it is nothing and said the nurse had interpreted it wrong.

Has he had blood tests?

Thank you for all your comments bringing me back down to the real world! @MrsTeachers no he hasn't had bloods, I'm still waiting for Dr to call me back regarding his ear pain and I am going to ask for a full blood count also x

I'm waiting for results myself and I know how worrying it is. I'm a mess, can't focus on anything I'm constantly thinking worse case

@Mammaaof if you don't mind me asking, how long did he want for scan after seeing GP, I am waiting for urgent ct scan and the wait is just adding to worry

@MrsTeachers he had the Dr appointment on the 18th Jan and had the scan today. But my mother in law is waiting for magic eye and she has been waiting 5 months and still not heard x

The doctor has just rang back and thinks the ear pain and headaches he's been having is all linked to his throat 😢

Could your doctor explain what it is they’re looking for or even what the worst case scenario is? Sometimes healthcare professionals want to protect patients by NOT saying what they’re thinking or looking for but to be honest they create more stress for many this way. It would be better to know and either have the worst confirmed or be relieved that it’s not that than have all this angst. It’s his body and he has a right to know what is being investigated tbh. But it would be him rather than you who would need to call.

Just some of my thoughts....
I look at barium swallows a lot and it would be unusual to have 2 lumps opposite each other - cancerous lumps don't usually come in pairs symmetrically. Your picture reminded me of cricopharyngeal hypertrophy or oesophageal narrowing of some sort.
All my bariums are run by consultant radiologist though who would have said straight away that that was what it was and it would need a gastro referral. Your husband may have been unlucky that it was a radiographer doing the images who can't say stuff.
Also, if cancer was a worry, they'd usually do an endoscopy rather than a barium. Bariums usually look for atypical transit of food/drink due to a mechanical change - of which there are many.
The images will have been reported on by the consultant, usually same day. They delay is the doctor who requested the barium seeing the results and doing something.

Try not to panic.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this here for a hand hold xx

I'm wondering if it's saliva stones (like gall stones but in the saliva gland I think). Someone at work had that (twice which really is spectacularly unlucky) and they were quite ill with them.

The reason why they'll be rushing it through is if they're growing they don't want it to restrict breathing/swallowing, which they clearly could do if not checked.
It doesn't necessarily mean it's not something easily treatable.

My unmedical thought though is I would think it's less likely to be cancer if it's two lumps symmetrically positioned. it sounds more like an infection that's brought a swelling to something specific.

@yearnewwhatever are you talking about the image that I posted?

[quote FossilisedFanny]@yearnewwhatever are you talking about the image that I posted?[/quote]
No, the drawing the the OP put up - with two symmetrical lumps either side of the oesophagus.

Don't panic, it could literally be anything. I lost my voice almost completely, had throat pain so bad I would get through pack after pack of throat sweets just to be at work. I was really concerned and a camera swallow showed something in my throat that was undermined. I had surgery to check and remove it and it turns out it was a vocal web where I'd had a throat infection (and talked too much. I work in ss so my job is literally talking) and so scaring had appeared between my vocal chords. I had a 45 minute procedure to resolve it and NFA. Of course there are no guarantees but I was newly married and terrified it was cancer. It was fine.

@yearnewwhatever oh I didn’t see the Op’s diagram

I had a similar response when I went for an MRI.

I was told that they couldn't really tell me but that the consultant would be in touch. That guy me worried as I'd been referred by my GP not a consultant but read too much into what they said. Everything was normal and I was never contacted by a consultant, it was just a standard turn of phrase.

Also, my daughter had that same issue. Doctor first said it was anxiety. When she insisted she wasn't feeling anxious at all, he said it could post nasal drip and prescribed her a steroid nose spray.

She didn't think that was it as she didn't feel coldish, but she's been taking them for 2 weeks and the bumps are almost gone and swallowing almost back to normal.

Any news Mammaaof?

How is everything @Mammaaof x

Sorry haven't been back, they did find "something" he has to have a magic eye, and a biopsy next, awaiting the letter for both but will be within next 10 days!

How are you @Mammaaof