Do you have any experience with a non-malignant growth in your throat?
July 20, 2015 10:39 AM Subscribe
Mr.K has a growth in his throat. When he went to an ENT clinic, two months ago, the doctor looked at it, said he had no idea what it was but was sure it wasn't cancer (didn't do a biopsy). In the last 3 days it has doubled in size. Mr.K has an appointment on Thursday, but is wondering if he should be considering the ER. I can't even do online research on this; all I get is info about throat cancer. Any personal experience out there?
Mr.K is 64, never smoked, good health, no history of skin tags or other abnormal growths. He's been gargling with salt water since he went to the doctor. This thing is on his tonsil (according to the doc) and is now filling the side of his throat over to the little thing that hangs down in the middle of the throat. It's pink and whitish and a smooth round thing. I don't mind looking at stuff like this, but this one looks gross. It doesn't hurt, but it feels like something stuck in his throat. He can still swallow okay.
I hope to hear about other's similar experience NOT to try to get a diagnosis, but for general advice: what questions to ask, what kind of consequences he might expect if it's removed surgically -- even suggestions about ways to do more effective online research will be welcome.
Thanks.
Mr.K is 64, never smoked, good health, no history of skin tags or other abnormal growths. He's been gargling with salt water since he went to the doctor. This thing is on his tonsil (according to the doc) and is now filling the side of his throat over to the little thing that hangs down in the middle of the throat. It's pink and whitish and a smooth round thing. I don't mind looking at stuff like this, but this one looks gross. It doesn't hurt, but it feels like something stuck in his throat. He can still swallow okay.
I hope to hear about other's similar experience NOT to try to get a diagnosis, but for general advice: what questions to ask, what kind of consequences he might expect if it's removed surgically -- even suggestions about ways to do more effective online research will be welcome.
Thanks.
If not the ER, at least call the office where he has an appointment on Thursday and ask if you can get in today instead on an emergency basis.
posted by something something at 10:48 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by something something at 10:48 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I have to agree with rabbitrabbit.
If you have Kaiser, you can call their nurse line, and they can approve you/refer you 1-866-454-8855. If you're not Kaiser, try your nurse/urgent care, if you're concerned about ER bills, but I'd definitely get someone to look at it TODAY.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:52 AM on July 20, 2015
If you have Kaiser, you can call their nurse line, and they can approve you/refer you 1-866-454-8855. If you're not Kaiser, try your nurse/urgent care, if you're concerned about ER bills, but I'd definitely get someone to look at it TODAY.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:52 AM on July 20, 2015
nthing contacting the ENT for a same-day appointment. Go to the ER if he has any difficulty swallowing or breathing. Anything that has the potential to block the airway that has grown that quickly in a 3 day period is probably ER-worthy, in my opinion.
posted by bedhead at 10:53 AM on July 20, 2015
posted by bedhead at 10:53 AM on July 20, 2015
Hazarding a guess: something enlarging that quickly is very likely swelling with fluid, either in a pocket like a cyst, or localized edema, not actually 'growing,' per se.
That matters nought in the short term but may mean that they will be able to shrink it down quickly once he gets to treatment.
But, yes, try to get in earlier with the specialist.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:57 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
That matters nought in the short term but may mean that they will be able to shrink it down quickly once he gets to treatment.
But, yes, try to get in earlier with the specialist.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:57 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Start by calling the office right now, sounding very concerned, and beg them to move up the appointment. Surely they'll squeeze you in sooner, even if it's just for a quick look, and they should also be able to give you guidance on when to go to the ER. In your shoes, I'd really really rather get this seen by your doctor rather than the ER.
posted by telepanda at 11:00 AM on July 20, 2015
posted by telepanda at 11:00 AM on July 20, 2015
Best answer: I'm going with everyone else that you should try to get back into the doctor or at least call the office just because it's grown so rapidly, but I do have a personal story to relate:
My boyfriend had a mysterious throat growth last year (42 and a light smoker at the time). He actually went in for allergies or something and the doctor who saw him, who was not his usual doctor, noticed it and immediately ignored whatever he'd gone in for and pronounced that it was probably cancer -- it was also pink and whitish, kind of lumpy looking, directly at the back of his throat, and seemed to start growing as soon as we noticed it was there. Of course frantic Googling ensued (and he stopped smoking, so there's that). He got in with an ENT a few weeks later for a biopsy, but the ENT didn't think it was anything and actually kind of discouraged him from the biopsy but we wanted to be sure. Turned out it was nothing and it's kind of gotten smaller over the past year but it's still there. (And having done a lot of poking around the internet on this topic, is the white part hard or fleshy? If it's hard, it may be a tonsil stone.)
posted by jabes at 11:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
My boyfriend had a mysterious throat growth last year (42 and a light smoker at the time). He actually went in for allergies or something and the doctor who saw him, who was not his usual doctor, noticed it and immediately ignored whatever he'd gone in for and pronounced that it was probably cancer -- it was also pink and whitish, kind of lumpy looking, directly at the back of his throat, and seemed to start growing as soon as we noticed it was there. Of course frantic Googling ensued (and he stopped smoking, so there's that). He got in with an ENT a few weeks later for a biopsy, but the ENT didn't think it was anything and actually kind of discouraged him from the biopsy but we wanted to be sure. Turned out it was nothing and it's kind of gotten smaller over the past year but it's still there. (And having done a lot of poking around the internet on this topic, is the white part hard or fleshy? If it's hard, it may be a tonsil stone.)
posted by jabes at 11:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: An update: we called our regular family doctor (I did the calling, and it wasn't hard to sound concerned). We have an appointment with the nurse practitioner in her office 2 hours from now. If we're referred to an ENT doc from there, I know it will be taken more seriously by the ENT clinic if it's a direct referral. Thanks for the support towards immediate action!
posted by kestralwing at 11:23 AM on July 20, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by kestralwing at 11:23 AM on July 20, 2015 [12 favorites]
I am surprised that the first ENT did not take a biopsy, or at least schedule a follow up in a reasonable time. Most throat cancers these days are HPV related, since there are fewer smokers, so being a nonsmoker is no longer relevant. I would follow through with the visit you have scheduled, but not stop the process until there is a biopsy performed.
I am a dentist, a nonsmoker, ridiculously fit and healthy. had a lump in my throat, had a biopsy, it returned positive for squamous cell carcinoma.
I caught it early, still had to have months of chemo/radiation and fortunately am now 15 months cancer free. i still see my oncologist every 4 months for follow ups.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:20 PM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
I am a dentist, a nonsmoker, ridiculously fit and healthy. had a lump in my throat, had a biopsy, it returned positive for squamous cell carcinoma.
I caught it early, still had to have months of chemo/radiation and fortunately am now 15 months cancer free. i still see my oncologist every 4 months for follow ups.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:20 PM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
What kind of a doctor says, "I have no idea what it is" and doesn't do a biopsy? Please get a new doctor. It could be a benign node or something, but geez.
I would recommend not going to clinics and going to quality general care practices. In my experience, clinics are there to treat urgent things, like you cut your hand or you suddenly developed some sort of severe sickness. Clinics really aren't ideal for long-term care or matters that don't require immediate assistance.
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:11 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I would recommend not going to clinics and going to quality general care practices. In my experience, clinics are there to treat urgent things, like you cut your hand or you suddenly developed some sort of severe sickness. Clinics really aren't ideal for long-term care or matters that don't require immediate assistance.
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:11 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Cancers of the throat ( or tonsil) will have certain fairly well defined presentations. If the ENT did not recommend a biopsy I would put that concern quite a way to the back. There is no reason a physician should know everything and saying :" i don't know what that is" may be a sign of candor and not incompetence. I would imagine it is some sort o fluid collection(blocked duct/cyst) and probably will dissipate fairly quickly. I am glad you are seeing your physician in a timely manner and hope it is pathologically inconsequential and no more than a nuisance and passing concern.
posted by rmhsinc at 2:46 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by rmhsinc at 2:46 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: AppleTurnover, I believe what you are referring to are "urgent care clinics." A clinic is generally used to refer simply to any outpatient medical practice. An "ENT clinic," which the OP says her husband went to, means a practice made up of ear nose and throat doctors. Sorry to get into semantics, but it seemed like you might have misunderstood the nature of the practice they went to before.
Also. I don't know exactly what the original ENT said, but just because a doctor doesn't know EXACTLY what something is by looking at it, doesn't mean that they are obligated to do a biopsy. Yes, I think it is somewhat concerning that the growth has doubled in size in three days, and definitely warrants a second look now, but ENT doctors look at tonsils all day long and are experts in knowing what different things look like. They also see a LOT of throat cancer. I'm not an ENT, just a primary care doctor, but there are plenty of minor skin bumps and moles that I can look at and even though I can't put a specific "diagnosis" to them, I will be able to assure you with 99% certainty that it's not cancerous. In this era of MRIs and CT scans and thousands of dollars of blood work done at the drop of a hat, I think people forget that the physical exam can be a very valuable tool and people have lost a lot of the trust they once had in physicians. Now, maybe the original doctor was grossly negligent; I have no way of knowing. But I see a lot of this attitude these days, of getting second and third opinions because people think their doctors aren't ordering enough tests.
Sorry to get on a soapbox there. I hope everything turns out well for your husband, kestralwing. I hope you will update us when you find something out.
posted by pimmscup at 4:02 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also. I don't know exactly what the original ENT said, but just because a doctor doesn't know EXACTLY what something is by looking at it, doesn't mean that they are obligated to do a biopsy. Yes, I think it is somewhat concerning that the growth has doubled in size in three days, and definitely warrants a second look now, but ENT doctors look at tonsils all day long and are experts in knowing what different things look like. They also see a LOT of throat cancer. I'm not an ENT, just a primary care doctor, but there are plenty of minor skin bumps and moles that I can look at and even though I can't put a specific "diagnosis" to them, I will be able to assure you with 99% certainty that it's not cancerous. In this era of MRIs and CT scans and thousands of dollars of blood work done at the drop of a hat, I think people forget that the physical exam can be a very valuable tool and people have lost a lot of the trust they once had in physicians. Now, maybe the original doctor was grossly negligent; I have no way of knowing. But I see a lot of this attitude these days, of getting second and third opinions because people think their doctors aren't ordering enough tests.
Sorry to get on a soapbox there. I hope everything turns out well for your husband, kestralwing. I hope you will update us when you find something out.
posted by pimmscup at 4:02 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Mod note: One comment deleted. AskMe's not a debate space; let's keep it focused on answering OP's question. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:31 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:31 PM on July 20, 2015
Best answer: I had a nasty throat infection that led to a peritonsillar abscess in the back of my throat. Google will show you lots of photos for comparison to your husband's throat (be warned, the pictures will be ugly). My abscess got to the point where I had difficulty eating. I don't remember clearly how long it was in developing, though. Maybe a couple weeks?
My family doctor referred me to an ENT specialist, who scheduled me to have it drained. The procedure was short and not too painful with the local anesthetic. It did require that my upper body and head be strapped to a high-backed chair for immobilization, to allow the specialist to suck the fluid from the abscess using a large syringe. Slightly discomfiting it was, but I felt immediately better with the pressure relieved. I was prescribed Tylenol 3 for the pain, but didn't need to fill it. I was a few days eating soft food before feeling 100% again. That was almost 10 years ago, and no troubles since.
posted by gox3r at 7:36 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
My family doctor referred me to an ENT specialist, who scheduled me to have it drained. The procedure was short and not too painful with the local anesthetic. It did require that my upper body and head be strapped to a high-backed chair for immobilization, to allow the specialist to suck the fluid from the abscess using a large syringe. Slightly discomfiting it was, but I felt immediately better with the pressure relieved. I was prescribed Tylenol 3 for the pain, but didn't need to fill it. I was a few days eating soft food before feeling 100% again. That was almost 10 years ago, and no troubles since.
posted by gox3r at 7:36 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Final update: got a same day appointment with the nurse practitioner, who thought it looked like an access on the tonsil which probably needed a CAT scan and drainage. But she was uncertain and pulled our regular doc in to take a look. The doc immediately identified it as tonsillitis. (If you're curious about exactly what it looked like, go to Wiki and type in tonsillitis.) She prescribed a fairly heavy dose of ampicillin; the growth was noticeably smaller within 24 hours.
Which still leaves the question of why an ENT specialist wouldn't recognize it, but I think it is fairly rare to have such a severe case in an adult, especially within accompanying pain, fever, malaise, etc. And it ended well, without needing a visit to the ER. :-)
Thanks again for all the advice.
posted by kestralwing at 4:13 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Which still leaves the question of why an ENT specialist wouldn't recognize it, but I think it is fairly rare to have such a severe case in an adult, especially within accompanying pain, fever, malaise, etc. And it ended well, without needing a visit to the ER. :-)
Thanks again for all the advice.
posted by kestralwing at 4:13 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:46 AM on July 20, 2015 [7 favorites]