lump in throat and serious hair thinning- thyroid problem?

lumpinthroat

For the past couple months I have experienced a lump in my throat when I swallow. It has been cause for concern for me as my father just finished a long and difficult battle with throat cancer-- he had a laryngectomy and now speaks with an electro-larynx.
I have held off going to the doctor's because I effectively don't have insurance (I have a health savings account that just started beginning of jan that has no money in it) and the research I have done online indicates that most people complaining of a lump in their throat get turned away from the doctor pretty quickly saying its just stress or GERD or somesuch

Recently symptoms have expanded to include swollen glands on the left side of my neck, excessive mucus/phlegm (especially when i wake up in the morning), and occassional sinus problems.

probably unrelated-- but who knows-- i have started experiencing hair thinning. my hair has been falling out at a good rate when i wash it. i have chocked this up to my poor diet and have since added vitamin dietary supplements which will hopefully begin improvements soon.

now some research online has indicated that some of these may be indicative of a thyroid out of wack .... Is this true?

If not and it is simply GERD / globus etc are there some remedies I can try on my own without spending $283928932 just to have a doctor tell me "Yep, you suffer from GERD."

any input would be awesome. thanks.