Lump in back of neck - Lump under arm - Worried

[monimann]

I have had this lump on the right side of my neck for some time now (over a year) and I have had feelings of fullness in my head (pressure) Two cat scans and an MRI of neck and head and an MRA of head showed normal. I have been to the er room for this on one occasion because the pressure was very bad and I felt I needed medical attention right away. After I was seen and blood work done it showed that my Neutropphils count was high(79.2) range= 43.0 - 72.0% / Lymphcytes Low (14.2) range = 18.0 - 43.0%. My segs for the Differential Manual were high 78 range = 25 - 62% and lymphs low 15 range= 20 - 52%. I was also told the lumpo in my neck was a swollen/infected lymph node (2 doctors confirmed this) The ER doctor suggested I bring this to my doctors attention, which I did the next day, and she told me there was nothing wrong with me except stress due to the death of my mother (died of lung cancer in March 2006 - I was at the doctors for this in June 2006). So nothing was done except that she kept me on Ativan for stress, which did nothing for the feelings I get on the same side of my head that the lump is on. Over the past several months I have been getting night sweats, feelings of just not feeling good (always asking "do I have a fever?" and feeling hot and cold- wake up with night sweats which are not constant but enough to make me aware there is something going on) - I am just getting over a sinus infection that took two weeks to clear the infection but I still have a cough and achey feelings (like the flu) I had a chest x-ray which was normal. I did some research on the low and high counts of the blood and the swollen lymph node in my neck and it all led me to Hodgkins/Non Hodgkins disease.
I have also found a lump under my right arm near my breast, and I now have tiny red spots appearing on my body. (Upper Thighs - Stomach - Chest - some on arms and neck)

I do have an apopointment finally with an ENT November 28 and an Mammogram and Ultrasound for the arm/breast lump on Monday the 20th - Am I over reacting?

[LMSPouse]

Just remember, if you are entitled to a second opinion. If the doctor you have does not seem to be giving you the right information. Check with another doctor. But, make sure you contact your insurance company first to make sure they know what you are doing.

Get it checked until you know exactly what it is. If you wait too long, there are so many "problems" out there that can only do more harm the longer it takes to diagnose them.

[monimann]

Thank you for replying LMSPouse - As I said I do havr those appointments with the ENT and for mammogram/songram, I did call the doctor in regards to the red spots appearing different parts of my body , flat not raised, no puss coming out of them, no scabbing, just little tiny red dots - she asked me to try some cortizone on an area to see if they would go away, and so I did that and they did not go away - I am going to call her to tell her they didn't go away, and asked to be seen on that. I have been reading up on these and it sounds like petichiae (spelling) - It is not severe, but it is noticiable to me (especially on thighs) and new ones keep appearing every day it seems. So to be safe I will go see her, and hopefully get an answer and not a referral to a dermatoloigist, because then I will have to wait another month!

Thanks for listening!
Monique

[sunnydee1970]

Get a second opinion!! My best friend of 20 years was just diagnosed with cancer in her lymphnoids. Her signs were tired, sick flu like feelings, etc due to her thyroids being out of wack. She had a little lump in her neck and under her right arm.

She is doing great and treatment is not necessary at this time due to the type of slow progressing cancer it is but she is on medication and the docs are keeping an eye out.

By the way....when my friend first went to the doc's they diagnosed her as having "cat scratch fever"!!!!

[monimann]

Thank you for your response Sunnydee - I am sorry to hear of your friend - I hope all goes well!
I called my doctor and I have an appointment Monday Morning for the red dots - but if they get worse I will call and ask to be seen tomorrow.

I will go see her - them go for my mammo/ultrasound - I hope to have some insight on my mammo that day - i am keeping my fingers crossed the radioloigist will be in and will be able to compare my films to the last set that were done (last year - yearly check) and read my ultra sound.

I will keep you posted!
Thanks!
Monique

[monimann]

I had my mammogram and ultrasound - the lump I felt under my arm near my breast are actually 2 swollen lymph nodes - the radioligist said no malignancy ( thank goodness!) and I have a few cysts that I couldn't even feel. So now I see the ENT Doctor on the 28th and try to get a DX on why I have the lump in my neck - and hopefully we can find out why I have swollen nodes under my arm.

Well, I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful Thanksgiving (If that's what they celebrate / and a wonderful weekend!)

I will post again after I see the ENT.

Monique

[monimann]

Well, I went to the ENT today and he told me there is nothing wrong with my ears - and the "lymph node" is a muscle. So now I am really confused - I have my GP telling me in the begining it was a muscle, and PT did nothing for it, I went to the ER and two doctors confirm a swollen lymph node - so I go back to my GP and she says that there is nothing to do with a lymph node that size and it is stress - so I follow her advice and I still feel the same, pressure in head "lump" still there - I see the neurologist and he tells me it is a lymph node MRI & MRA are good (also two cat scans good) - so now the pressure on side of head is worse with ringing in ear - ENT tells me it is a muscle and a vertabrae (spelling??) and he is going to refer me to another doctor - I forget what he called it but they deal with muscles and skelital (I am sure the spelling is wrong on that too!)
So, now I am back to where I started I feel! Only this time, I have swollen nodes under the arm but not to worry because they are not malignant (thank goodness!) - But why are they swollen? Why am I getting night sweats and achey? I am sick of being sick.
Well, with all these doctors who cannot make up their minds on me I have made a decsion - I called another Doctor ( he was my Mom's GP very good and talks to you so you can understand) and decided to get a clean start and gather all my medical records and have him check me from head to toe and tell me I am fine! I am sick of running to this doctor and that doctor - I just want an answer to why I have this lump in the back of my neck and pressure on my head - I want to be able to get up in the morning and not feel like I was punched on the side of the head - I just want answers a straight answer - This ENT looked in my ears and said "well your ears are clear" no duh - I have been told that five other times! If I am rambling I am sorry! Thanks for listening! If anyone reads this and has been through something similar please post me a message - Sometimes I feel like the doctors think I am just a chronic complainer and I am not, just looking to see why I feel the way I do!

[Unregistered]

I never have been on this site and actullay was searching for something completely different and I cam across your story.....God works in mysterious ways. Anyway, You are exactly correct when you say Hodgkins Disease. I am so freaked out by how your story sounds like my 14 yo who was diagnosed in September. When we started seeing dosctors about the lump in her neck they told her her Lymph Nodes were swollen due to probably fighting off an infection in her body somewhere and gave her antibiotics. She was also hospitalized in June 2006 for Cellulitis in her legs and also developed a strange rash that no-one seemed to know what it was (upper thighs,Arms, not so much on trunk of her body). Anyway after some persitance on my part I sought out a pediatric surgeon that began the series of test that included, cat , MRI and then finally a biopsy. When they did the cat and MRI they were still telling me they did not think it was cancer, but guess what ...they were wrong. On the day they did the biopsy when the doctor took out the Lymph node he new right away what it was and had pathology test and they conformed my daughter had Hodgkins Lymphoma. What is so ironic is that when she started seeing the surgeon all the sypmtoms you describe is what they look for in Hodgkins, the nightsweats , the rash, the lump. At the time my daughter only had the lump and that is why they thought it was not cancer. I have not learned that the sysptoms can relate to the stage of the disease. My daughter had Caner in the upper part of her diaphram. Neck, chest and underarms. Thank God it was not in her spleen or Bone Marrow. Now what I can say is that this is the highest form of treatable cancers there is. My daughters oncologist told us if you had to be diagneosed with any typeof cancer this is the one you would want. My suggestiont o you is find a surgeon and have them Biopsy....the faster the better....good luck.

[monimann]

Thank you for responding - I am sorry to hear your daughter had to go through that am glad to hear she is on the road to recovery! I have made an appointment for December 22 with another doctor to get a second opinion - I was getting to many "you have this" and "no it's not this" from too many doctors and my own GP seems to be agreeing with everyone - so who is actually right? Well, I am going to bring all my test results and medical records to this Doctor (he was my mothers GP before she passed - he treats you like a person not a stranger and talks in terms one can understand.) Hopefully I will get the answers to my problem without going through 10 doctors!

Good luck with everything!

Monique

[Unregistered]

Well I think you are on the right road anyway. I read your story to my daughter yesterday and she was amazed at how similar your situation was. She asked me if she coul dpost her Mis-Diagnoses on this site so she could maybe help someone else. I forgot to mention another piece to our journey. When I tool my daughter for her cat scan we met up woth a 24 YO who was also misdiagnosed. He was admitadly a gay man and for a year while this lump in his neck grew they tested him for everything else (including AIDS becasue he was gay) rather than Cancer. Finally he found a doctor to do a biopsy after a year had past and he was diagnosed with Hodgkins as well. His cancer had advanced to a stage four which meant it was in his entire Lyph system including his spleen and bone marrow....but guess what he is still here to tell the story so I hope if the doc you are seeing doesn't suggest a biopsy, you seek a surgeon on your own.....the faster the better...good luck and I hope this info is helpful to you.

Eva