Scared as Hell and need feedback! Update 1st post | Arthritis Information

Share
 

I knew I shouldn't have gotten on the internet and looked up info...I should have just waited for my Dr. Appt. next Wednesday.

 
My husband noticed a "lump" in my neck, just above the collarbone on my right side.  He noticed it just from seeing it, I didn't notice it at all until he pointed it out.  Sure enough, when I felt the area, I could feel it.  It doesn't hurt at all, I'm not sick per se, no fever or sore throat or really anything other than RA and asthma.
 
Anyway, I get online today and start researching...BAD idea all around!  Now I'm terrified.  The ONLY thing that keeps me calm is this part of what I read:
 
"Stony-hard nodes are typically a sign of cancer, usually metastatic. Very firm, rubbery nodes suggest lymphoma. Softer nodes are the result of infections or inflammatory conditions. Suppurant nodes may be fluctuant. The term "shotty" refers to small nodes that feel like buckshot under the skin, as found in the cervical nodes of children with viral illnesses."
 
As far as location goes, I've determined it's the right Supraclavicular lymph node(s), unfortunately the causes of it being swollen in particular is scary as Hell!!!  I'm hoping and praying that it is just due to "inflammatory conditions".
 
So my question to all of you is this:
 
Have any of you experienced swollen but not painful lymph nodes without the presence of illness (such as colds, flu or the like)???????
 
*UPDATE*
 
Well, I went to the Dr. today and he saw it as soon as I said "lump in my neck".  He felt it, pushed on it, looked at it but didn't say what he thought it might be...probably a good thing that he didn't speculate, I'd worry even more.
 
I have to have a sonogram done on it and then a follow up Dr. appt.  So much for putting my mind at peace today.
 
And to add to all of this, I can't take my Daypro for at least 2 months until my stomach recovers from the damage of NSAID's.  try not to worry, Dachie, *deep breath*.  Make an appointment and go get it check out.  I had one in my neck, just below my jaw that was causing a clicking feeling unless I would turn my head to the right to swallow.  I went to an ENT, went through all kinds of test, and he could find nothing wrong.  It turned out to be a RA nodule and eventually went away on its own.  I have had quite a few lumps check out and biopseyed and, luckily, all have been RA.

Make an appointment and go get it checked as soon as you can.  In the meantime, try not to stress, this will just make your RA worse as well as make you feel awful mentally.  Please let us know what is going on when you find out and I'll hum for you! 

I've had enlarged lymph nodes from ear infections, sinus infections, and tonsillitis. I always have swollen lymph nodes.  Dr. said it is part of how the RA and I get along...I had a hard lump in my neck once. Went immediatelly to get it checked out. It was a spider bite, according to the doctor....or at least looked like one.
 
Anyone who reads medical information on the internet needs to do it objectively without freaking out. If you can't, then stay away from it.
 
I had my quarterly visit with my rheumatologist today. His nurse, Kevin, checked my vitals first. I remarked that my file seemed to be getting much thicker, even if I had been coming there for many years. He laughed and said that the doctor has some patients  who have 4 or 5 hugely thick files........and nothing's ever wrong with these people. It's just that they get on the internet and decide they have a terrible disease and come running to the doctor's office.....
 
It's one thing to be informed, but quite another thing to assume that you have every disease that remotedly looks or sounds like what you read about on the internet.
Sam12342010-03-18 16:21:47Hey Dachie worrying won't do you any good.  Relaxation techniques can help, meditation, then look at it with a clear mind.  I've done a lot of worrying in my life, yet here I am.  It's appropriate to be concerned, and it sounds like you're on top of it already with that appt., but anything beyond that won't help you. [QUOTE=Sam1234]He laughed and said that the doctor has some patients  who have 4 or 5 hugely thick files........and nothing's ever wrong with these people. It's just that they get on the internet and decide they have a terrible disease and come running to the doctor's office.....
 
It's one thing to be informed, but quite another thing to assume that you have every disease that remotedly looks or sounds like what you read about on the internet.
[/QUOTE]
 
You're probably right about that Sam...but I had made my Dr. Appt. several days ago, I didn't get online and start researching until today.
 
I'm trying not to stress about it or even think about.  It has helped me just knowing that it could be RA related so that's what a I force into my head anytime a negative thought pops in there.
 
Thanks for all the input!
Dachie, try your best not to worry about it and don't look at anymore websites about swollen nodes! They are SO freaky!!   I had a swollen lymph node at the base of my neck and got scared about it, but I also had an obnoxiously itchy scalp. Turns out I had a bact infection on my big fat head! How gross is that!?!?
 
Get it checked out by the doc and let us know what he says. I hope all is well. I asked the kids pediatrician what the hard lump behind my ear was once. he said a lymph node you just get a bit of something that the body has a hard time cleaning out sometime.
 
When my son was eleven he had a large swollen lymph node in his arm pit. His arm pit was just as swollen as could be. The doctor pointed out the scratches on his arm and asked if he had been around any cats? He answered yes at his friends house. Cat scratch fever from picking up a wild kitten.
 
Let us know how things turn out.
 
My sons exwife has several painless ones on her body. Hard as rocks. She had a badly swollen knee with a floating nodual in it once and I had to drag her to the doctor. She had me feel some lumps in her neck and said she had not gone to the doctor in years for fear they would tell her she had cancer. She still has them and they are benign. I think some parts of the country there is a fungus and people can get it and recover without problems or even knowing that they are sick but a certain percentage of people get calcification in thier lymph nodes afterwards. Not a problem unless they are putting pressure on nerves that cause pain and neurological problems or if they are around the heart then they would have to be removed.
 
I agree get your lumps checked out. The sooner the better. Let us know how things turn out? I hope it is nothing serious or scary. Good for your husband for noticing!
 
So always get a lump checked I agree totally.
Thank you all so much!  Wow, so many things can happen to cause something else to happen, etc. and so on.  You got to wonder how we all live to get old!
 
I will touch base after my appt Wed. and let all of you know what happnes.  Thanks again!
[QUOTE=CO_Mel]Dachie, try your best not to worry about it and don't look at anymore websites about swollen nodes! They are SO freaky!!   I had a swollen lymph node at the base of my neck and got scared about it, but I also had an obnoxiously itchy scalp. Turns out I had a bact infection on my big fat head! How gross is that!?!? I get swollen lymph nodes all the time, esp. during flares.  usually throat area, and armpits for me.
 
Try not to worry.  Stress induces flares.  Best wishes to you.
Update on 1st post.Where is the update? Wondering how things turned out?Yes, where is the update? The world is anxious to know, Dachie!Hi everyone, I wrote the update on the very first post of the thread.I'm sorry your appointment wasn't able to ease your worry!  Please continue to keep us updated!  Lumps can be so many different things... and thank goodness your doctor is taking it seriously... just in case!  Better safe than sorry :)  Like I said, I've had a friend go through this... had it removed, and it was nothing!!  So don't let yourself worry too much!  And once again, please keep us updated! Well today I had the ultrasound done on my neck.  They said it would be 2-3 days before my Doctor get's the results so now I wait.......................meanwhile, it is still there...haunting me.
 
Thanks for the support everyone!

Copyright ArthritisInsight.com