Ear, Nose & Throat Community

Hi everyone; like a lot of people I've gotten sick of googling my symptoms only to have the word 'CANCER' thrown at me every which way. I'm currently in the process of waiting for a referral to make its way to my local ENT from my PCP, so I have a lot of time on my hands to think. To start off, I'm 28 years old and male.

On Thanksgiving day, I started to feel a slight discomfort in my lower left jaw. Nothing incredibly off-putting, but over the following week it became more painful. By 12/5, the pain started to recede but gave way to an odd, swollen feeling in my neck. This worried me enough to see the doctor, which I did on the following day. My doctor had me do the usual assortment of blood work.

On the Saturday after then, 12/8 to be exact, the pain in my jaw returned and while feeling at my neck I noticed a hard, bony lump right above my left collar bone. It's right at the base of my neck and a bit deep inside and I'd say its maybe about the size of a marble. Very, very occasionally I'll feel a little pain radiate from it, but otherwise it is not tender at all, but it is very solid, and unmovable.

My bloodwork came back on 12/10 which gave me a clean bill of health - not one problem was spotted, outside of a slightly elevated uric acid count.

Not much has happened since then - I'm taking 600mg of ibuprofen for the occasional recurring bout of jaw pain(again, there is no tenderness here either and I can move my neck normally) but what worries me most now is this lump just sitting in my neck.

The flesh/tissue right around this lump is currently very swollen, like a soft fatty lump - could this be because I'm CONSTANTLY touching/feeling/fiddling with the area, checking on the bump? I am also currently weathering what feels like a 24 hour cold, so could that explain it?

Besides that, everything is normal. I am not lethargic, no real trouble breathing/swallowing. No random fevers. The only notable thing about me otherwise is that I'm a fair amount overweight; but besides this occasional pain and stiffness in my neck, I feel absolutely normal.

I've had my main doctor, two friends, a friend's mother, and an ER doctor all touch and feel at my neck, and did not seem especially worried.

Still, this is wearing on my mind(I had a panic attack on 12/15 over it) and even though physically I feel normally, emotionally and mentally it is tearing me up. My family has histories of cancer, but the three that I know of all did not develop this at all until their late 40's and above.