Lump In My Neck

Right now I am a very frightened women.  I discovered a lump in the right side of my lower neck, right above the collar bone, some months back.  The lump is hard and it does not move.  It is rater large, like a golf ball.  You can't look at me and see it, I can just feel it when I touch my neck.  I feel fine, and it doesn't bother me at all.  I discovered it by accident putting on my seat belt.  It feels like a bone.  I have two young children, and I'm scared to death of finding out bad news.  I guess I take everything to the extreem, I am so convinced that this is going to be extreemly bad news.  I went to my family doctor, and he didn't seemed to concerned, but did give me a referral for an exray, which I never got.  Now the fear is starting to take me over.  I'm loosing sleep over this due to worry.  I have no clue what it is.  The doctor said 'it feels like a bone'.  I said 'well what bone is it and how come I don't have it on the other side of my neck?'.  He couldn't answer that.  I'm wondering if anyone in the medical field could give me some possible answers as to what this hard lump that is causing me no problems other than worry could be, and please be honest.  I appreciate it so much.

The worst part is the worry, not the news. Worrying just causes ulcers, knowing either brings comfort that it isn't anything or allows you to develop a game plan to fix the problem.

Don't look for definitive answers here, go get it checked out by a qualified ent, perferebly two.

 

Good luck.

Rick is right, you need to get this checked out asap. Dont waste your time playing "what if". If it isn't anything bad, your worries will be over, and if it is something serious, you're better off dealing with it NOW, because waiting will only make it worse.

Good luck.

I gotta pipe in here. If you are scared about it then why would you not get the xray? That doesn't make any sense. Don't be afraid of bad news, be afraid of not addressing the problem. If it is a cancer, the longer you wait the more there is to be afraid of. It won't get better by itself. If it isn't a cancer why waste one minute of the precious time you have on this Earth worrying about it? Have the test. If it is bad news (and everyone on this board has been through that conversation) just hang in there and get treatment. After treatment is over and you've beaten it, take the family out to dinner and celebrate. If it is good news, have that celebratory dinner now. The longer you wait the worse it's gonna be either way. If it's cancer then it will be harder to treat. If it isn't cancer then you've wasted precious time worrying about it. Just do it!

Good Luck,

Joe 

Might be a good time to tell my 'whole' story here. (SCC, unknown primary, stage 4) I had a lump in my right neck summer of '05. CT, then excision. Path came back it was an infected salivary gland. Summer of 2006-another lump-same place. I ignored it. Finally GP referred me to ENT. Another excision-the lump had been growing. SCC diagnosis; PET showed mets to at least 3 other neck nodes. CT then showed the 1st surgeon had NOT removed the enlarged lymph node he should have-it was clearly visable behind the piece of salivary gland he removed. (1st lesson-stick with ENT's!) Radiation and cisplatin, finished 04/07. Modified radical neck dissection 08/07. Now, luckily for me. I've recovered well and doing fine. However, they are still watching a nodule and hilar lymph node in my lung that showed hypermetabolic activity on PET. It's a 'wait and watch' thing now-next PET in March. I hope it never turns out to be anything-but was told 1 in 3 chance it had already metastisized to the lung. Moral of my story----DON'T wait-check out anything that's suspicious! There is absolutely no reason not to; knowing either way gets that out of the way and then you just deal. Take charge of your health and your life!!!!!!!!!! Best of luck, Gayle   

 

On 1/18/2008 gayleann wrote:

Might be a good time to tell my 'whole' story here. (SCC, unknown primary, stage 4) I had a lump in my right neck summer of '05. CT, then excision. Path came back it was an infected salivary gland. Summer of 2006-another lump-same place. I ignored it. Finally GP referred me to ENT. Another excision-the lump had been growing. SCC diagnosis; PET showed mets to at least 3 other neck nodes. CT then showed the 1st surgeon had NOT removed the enlarged lymph node he should have-it was clearly visable behind the piece of salivary gland he removed. (1st lesson-stick with ENT's!) Radiation and cisplatin, finished 04/07. Modified radical neck dissection 08/07. Now, luckily for me. I've recovered well and doing fine. However, they are still watching a nodule and hilar lymph node in my lung that showed hypermetabolic activity on PET. It's a 'wait and watch' thing now-next PET in March. I hope it never turns out to be anything-but was told 1 in 3 chance it had already metastisized to the lung. Moral of my story----DON'T wait-check out anything that's suspicious! There is absolutely no reason not to; knowing either way gets that out of the way and then you just deal. Take charge of your health and your life!!!!!!!!!! Best of luck,

Thanks so much for responding.  I do have an appointment for 1/28.  There is no point in waiting.  Thanks again and good luck to you as well!!!

I had found two lumps on my neck and went to a dermatologist who told me he did not like the way they looked - they small, round, not painfull and slightly soft - the biospy showed I had tumors of the parotid gland near the saliva gland - the first biospy showed them to be 80% benigh..I found a head and neck surgeon as the removal of these tumors in that location is an extremely long and delicate operation as there is a facial nerve near the face and if it is cut or nicked the face can become paralyzed on one side -- the need to have the best doctor you can - I had a long somewhat painful recovery and then my srugeon called me back three months later to say that postbiosphy and future looking at my charts on his medical computers shouled I really had a rare 10% cancer. He advised 7 weeks of radiation therapy at a local cancer center. I did the treatments which were painless and easy and I got an excellent positive prognosis. However I got terrible side effects --including sore throat, loss of saliva and no taste.,The side effects may or  may not ever go away . I am struggling and suffering with eating something I never had to face before in my life. I am told and now belive everything is some kind of trade off.,.I have lost a lot of weight and I have been depressed and confused to feel so badly but to have gotten the best kind of cancer recovery news. It is all a bit bizarre but I am going forward. Please have these lumps checked and go for a biospy as soon as you can. Don't wait. There are too many excellent people in the field that you can find to help you stay healthy and safe,

 Best of luck

Rosemary

 

In 1999 I had exactly what you have, a "golf ball" on the right side of my neck.  It was hard and wouldn't move.  For a year and a half I went through all the worries just like you are, then I finally found the nerve to see a doctor.  He said he could not feel it!  Went to two more doctors, and they said the same thing.  Finally, on my fourth appointment one of them said I should see an ENT.  Went to one, and right away he said, "I find this to be alarming!"  Thank you.  :)  By the time I had surgery it had been two years since I'd discovered the lump.  It turned out to be Papillary Thyroid Cancer, which had metastasized to the lymph node and both lungs.  After many treatments and surgeries, and nine years, I still have it, and it has gone to my bones, brain, and many other places.  Still, I feel good, and life goes on.  Right now I am on Nexavar, an oral chemo, and it has helped quite a bit.

I urge you to get help now.  The sooner the better.  If it is anything serious, the passage of time is not going to make it better.  I felt SO much better once I had a game plan and doctors who were eager to help me.  The unknown is the worst part of all.