Demiduncan
15-06-15, 20:48
Hello. I'll try to keep this to the point as I could go on for days.
I don't speak German but I'm currently living in Germany. This makes speaking to doctors difficult.
Last November I found a lump on the back of my knee, sort of at the very top of the back of my calf. It was the size of a pea, sort of firm and smooth, just under the skin. I can push it around a bit and when my leg bends it is no longer palpable - it can't be felt at all. If I stand solely on my affected leg for a few seconds it becomes more prominent and visible. I saw a doctor the following day who sent me for a vascular ultrasound to rule out DVT as I had flown two days before. That was clear so I made a regular appointment for a general examination. The next doctor had no answers but said I should have an MRI to see if it came up. The MRI eventually happened and the doctor could not spot the lump - this got a bit lost in translation - he clearly said 'not a tumour' but could not actually tell me what it was. Possibly a bakers cyst is what I got from him (he also had a look himself on a regular ultrasound but could not see the lump though he could feel where it was).
I'd had enough at that point so I just tried to get on with things. 8 months since I discovered it and it has not grown though that area does ache now and again. Recently I saw a dermatologist for something else and showed it to him. He said it wasn't a bakers cyst but again, he didn't know what it was. Possibly a lump of scar tissue. He said it would be an awkward area to have it removed from - something to do with the nerves, though again the language barrier blurred things a bit.
As you can imagine, with health anxiety, not a day has gone by in these 8 months where I haven't felt the lump and worried about it.
Please, if anyone can talk me down from the sarcoma ledge I would be very grateful. I am going back to the UK in late August and will finally see an English doctor about it, but I really need some reassuring words. I'm pretty sure that if it hasn't grown in 8 months it's unlikely to be an issue but I'm so sick of worrying.
I don't speak German but I'm currently living in Germany. This makes speaking to doctors difficult.
Last November I found a lump on the back of my knee, sort of at the very top of the back of my calf. It was the size of a pea, sort of firm and smooth, just under the skin. I can push it around a bit and when my leg bends it is no longer palpable - it can't be felt at all. If I stand solely on my affected leg for a few seconds it becomes more prominent and visible. I saw a doctor the following day who sent me for a vascular ultrasound to rule out DVT as I had flown two days before. That was clear so I made a regular appointment for a general examination. The next doctor had no answers but said I should have an MRI to see if it came up. The MRI eventually happened and the doctor could not spot the lump - this got a bit lost in translation - he clearly said 'not a tumour' but could not actually tell me what it was. Possibly a bakers cyst is what I got from him (he also had a look himself on a regular ultrasound but could not see the lump though he could feel where it was).
I'd had enough at that point so I just tried to get on with things. 8 months since I discovered it and it has not grown though that area does ache now and again. Recently I saw a dermatologist for something else and showed it to him. He said it wasn't a bakers cyst but again, he didn't know what it was. Possibly a lump of scar tissue. He said it would be an awkward area to have it removed from - something to do with the nerves, though again the language barrier blurred things a bit.
As you can imagine, with health anxiety, not a day has gone by in these 8 months where I haven't felt the lump and worried about it.
Please, if anyone can talk me down from the sarcoma ledge I would be very grateful. I am going back to the UK in late August and will finally see an English doctor about it, but I really need some reassuring words. I'm pretty sure that if it hasn't grown in 8 months it's unlikely to be an issue but I'm so sick of worrying.