Interesting question. I had worked in health care for thirty years and pretty much knew about basic medical things both as a social worker in a big ER and an Emergency Medical Technician. One day about 6 years ago I was shaving and when I pulled the skin tight on my neck I felt a swollen lymph node. I immediately felt the other side and the node there wasn’t swollen. I knew that almost universally neck lymph nodes swelled up in pairs. Called my doctor and went to see him that afternoon. Sent me to an ENT specialist and got a blind stick neck biopsy the next day, a PET scan in a week and a throat biopsy in another week. Took less than three weeks for official confirmation but I knew the first day.

Chemo and Radiation kicked my ass. But all better now…