Oh, no.. Not again...
So last week, (July 4th) I noticed a small bump on my neck. I was very scared. I called the doctors office the next day and they fit me in.
My oncologist did not seem very concerned about it. He said it was just a swollen lymph node and wasn't consistent with a Burkitt's tumor. The thing that worries me is that the bump is in the same general area as the initial bump and came about the same way. Also, when I noticed the first lump a year ago, the doctor's didn't seem alarmed by it.
My doc suggested I come back in 2 weeks because he didn't want to "worry about having it biopsied." I took that and called it a day.
The next day, I called the doctor's office again. The fact is there is a bump on my neck and I haven't been sick with a cold or had any infections so there is no good reason for it to be there. I thought it would be a good idea to have a needle biopsy just so we know what the bump is. In two weeks time, if it were still there, we would have to have it anyway. He said I would have to see the ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) in order to have the needle biopsy done. (which by the way, would be the same doc who I first saw with the first lump who told me it was a 95% chance not cancer).
Am I crazy here or do doctors not make any sense? In years of practice, does logic go out the window? If we have the medical technology to know what something is why not find out? And why send a patient to multiple doctors when one will suffice?
I was anxious, sacred, and worried, but now I have a better mental attitude. Worse case scenario is that the cancer is back and I have to undergo chemo again, maybe get a bone marrow transplant this time around. I've been through the chemo process once so I could do it again.
Best case scenario is the bump is nothing and will go away. I also have the fact that my oncologist doesn't think it looks cancerous--which is a good thing.
I will update the blog as a I know more. I feel this is an important part of the healing process--but I hope others out there, once they are in remission, never have more bumps popping up on their necks.
My oncologist did not seem very concerned about it. He said it was just a swollen lymph node and wasn't consistent with a Burkitt's tumor. The thing that worries me is that the bump is in the same general area as the initial bump and came about the same way. Also, when I noticed the first lump a year ago, the doctor's didn't seem alarmed by it.
My doc suggested I come back in 2 weeks because he didn't want to "worry about having it biopsied." I took that and called it a day.
The next day, I called the doctor's office again. The fact is there is a bump on my neck and I haven't been sick with a cold or had any infections so there is no good reason for it to be there. I thought it would be a good idea to have a needle biopsy just so we know what the bump is. In two weeks time, if it were still there, we would have to have it anyway. He said I would have to see the ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) in order to have the needle biopsy done. (which by the way, would be the same doc who I first saw with the first lump who told me it was a 95% chance not cancer).
Am I crazy here or do doctors not make any sense? In years of practice, does logic go out the window? If we have the medical technology to know what something is why not find out? And why send a patient to multiple doctors when one will suffice?
I was anxious, sacred, and worried, but now I have a better mental attitude. Worse case scenario is that the cancer is back and I have to undergo chemo again, maybe get a bone marrow transplant this time around. I've been through the chemo process once so I could do it again.
Best case scenario is the bump is nothing and will go away. I also have the fact that my oncologist doesn't think it looks cancerous--which is a good thing.
I will update the blog as a I know more. I feel this is an important part of the healing process--but I hope others out there, once they are in remission, never have more bumps popping up on their necks.
posted by Robbie at 7:25 AM
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